TV that doesn't require 'on-line activation' to set up.

2 years ago by catfishsushi to c/technology

I'm going to buy my first new TV in years. Even if it's a 'smart' tv we plan to just use our Roku. I've heard that some TVs require you to connect it to the internet before you can even use a Roku device. For privacy reasons I don't want my TV to EVER have access to my wifi. Is anyone aware of how to know what models/brands of TVs allow me to use it without ever connecting the TV itself to wifi?

If necessary I guess I could connect it to my guest network to 'activate' the TV, set up the Roku to connect to my private network, then change the password to the guest network.

Would rather just have a TV that doesn't even 'phone home' once.

c0smokram3r 81 points 2 years ago

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quixotic120 43 points 2 years ago

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tomkatt 19 points 2 years ago

I just have my LG C1 locked down to LAN only connection, in my router settings put it on house arrest. 😂

That way it doesn’t whine about no connection and wardrive for open connections. No ads, no crap, and just works without being able to phone home.

Next “TV” Will definitely be a short throw projector or commercial display (which is the codeword for “dumb”) TV today.

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cmnybo 12 points 2 years ago

Commercial displays usually don't have a very good picture quality. They are intended to be used as signs and are optimized for brightness.

A good projector is definitely the way to go if you have the room for one.

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EvilBit 4 points 2 years ago

Alternative perspective: Buy the most intrusive, ad-subsidized set you can find and disconnect/block it so you get all of the benefit and none of the privacy invasion?

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quixotic120 27 points 2 years ago

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EvilBit 3 points 2 years ago

Ugh. This is why we can’t have nice things.

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Arghblarg 11 points 2 years ago

That's what I ended up doing. A dumb monitor is just fine, as long as you don't need a huuuge screen. The main thing is to find a good external speaker though that doesn't auto-sleep in the middle of one's show...

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toddestan 1 point 2 years ago

The main thing is to find a good external speaker though that doesn’t auto-sleep in the middle of one’s show…

That's a thing now? It's been a while since I've shopped for speakers, but other than those Google/Alexa jobs they seemed to be about as dumb as rocks. Which is exactly they way I want them.

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Squibbles 10 points 2 years ago

How old are they? We bought an LG TV 1 or 2 years ago and it has a lot of online features and keeps prompting me to make an account and accept various terms and conditions for their advertising or to let them listen to the microphone and such. I think it's mostly optional but they don't make it easy to opt out

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wccrawford 11 points 2 years ago

To add to this, my LG C2 kept popping up a message that I could use Alexa with it if I connected it to Wifi.

To kill that message, I did. Now it pops up advertisements in that same way from time to time.

If I take it offline again, I get messages about connecting it again.

It's effectively impossible to kill ads on it.

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tomkatt 10 points 2 years ago

If you have a modern router you can block WAN connections while allowing LAN connections. This is what I do and it doesn’t give me crap (and bonus, I can interface with it still with home assistant for automations).

My router is an ASUS AX5700, if it matters.

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wccrawford 2 points 2 years ago

That's an interesting idea. I'll have to see if I can do something of the sort and see if it matters. I have a feeling it'll still pop the stupid messages about connecting to the internet, but maybe I'll get lucky and it won't.

Thanks!

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acosmichippo 3 points 2 years ago

my LG is from 2021. it is a little tricky to opt out of everything because the various options are scattered in different places in the settings, but once I did all that it hasn't bothered me.

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gofsckyourself 65 points 2 years ago

Funny that you're concerned about your TV "phone home" when you're using a Roku which is the worst offender for that sort of thing.

You're already soaking wet but afraid of the rain.

If that sort of thing already concerns you, then you need to get rid of the Roku and find something else. Like an Nvidia shield or media box with Kodi.

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ccdfa 7 points 2 years ago

With a caveat on the shield. It's still android TV so ideally you put your own OS on it if you're worried about that kind of thing.

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thirteene 2 points 2 years ago

Shield also refused to update mounting networking drives after Android 14 so they are pretty useless now

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UberMentch -1 points 2 years ago

How does that make them useless? They may not work for a use case where you're mounting network drives, but still work perfectly fine if you're using them to connect to a media server.

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thirteene 1 point 2 years ago

Nvidia shield was known as king of media servers because it was able to be client and server. Now it's a running on a build from ~2015 that can no longer function as a server. Yes it's a client, but it's old and overpriced now with a bunch of additional Google shitware. If you have one use it, don't buy one.

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gravitas_deficiency 39 points 2 years ago

What the hell sort of TV are you looking at that requires an online connection to use it as a simple display device?

That’s a serious question. I want to avoid whatever brand you’re talking about like the plague.

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neinhorn 30 points 2 years ago

Some food for thought. Vizio made more money selling ads and the data from their customers than selling the actual TVs.

With TVs you are paying to be the product.

https://www.theverge.com/...

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jubilationtcornpone 4 points 2 years ago

Walmart is in the process of acquiring Vizio for the express purpose of using TV's to serve advertisements.

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trustnoone 21 points 2 years ago

Unfortunately i think its becoming more a thing, so you have to be careful of future updates as some companies are realising they can put ads on your menu screen now

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computergeek125 18 points 2 years ago

Sadly the so-called "smart TV" is becoming the norm. Companies add unnecessary crap to TVs that's often as slow as your car's factory infotainment system, and when they feel like not upgrading the software anymore for security issues in a few years, it's a permanent security hazard until you disconnect it from the network.

I have a Vizio TV from several years ago with Yahoo branded smart functions (that should date it) that I need to factory reset because I can't find the WiFi password erase.

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celsiustimeline 4 points 2 years ago

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ownsauce 18 points 2 years ago

Not answering your question, but avoid Roku like the plague

Roku's Ransom: Agree to Forced Arbitration or Lose Your TV!

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XeroxCool 11 points 2 years ago

Most brands make it seem impossible to setup without connecting. I got a free TCL/Roku and it was such a massive headache to avoid connecting that I connected it. I just skip the ARC HDMI and pretend it's just as good since I don't use the built in apps. ARC ports read your content to "better serve you content" (ads)

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LedgeDrop 13 points 2 years ago

Roku is horrible. I bought a Roku Soundbar (speakers) for my TV and for reasons unknown, I had to (temporarily) hook it up to the internet to "activate" and download the firmware.

It's such a horrible glimpse of the consumers future.

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gravitas_deficiency 3 points 2 years ago

I thought LG and Sony and a few of the other big players still had the self respect to sell TVs that can just be.. you know… TVs

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CucumberFetish 5 points 2 years ago

LG C series OLEDs are a pain. If you connect them to wifi, they'll give you Apple TV and other "promotions" as pop up notifications at random times.

These TVs also have Bluetooth which cannot be turned off and any device can try to connect to it, giving you a non intrusive pop up of 20% of your screen area.

And their customer support is absolute garbage. In my area, you'll have to call them a few times before anyone picks up, then there is a 50% chance that the clerk doesn't speak English nor your local language. Sometimes you'll give up on calling them, as no one responds. You'll be happy to know that they will call you back in about a month.

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gravitas_deficiency 4 points 2 years ago

You can fix the always-on BT wirh a screwdriver, can’t you?

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0x0 1 point 2 years ago

These TVs also have Bluetooth

It's really nifty to wardrive those and play Tool at max.

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bamfic 1 point 2 years ago

All of them, katie

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Apeman42 33 points 2 years ago

I haven't gotten my shit together and researched specific models yet, but I've been looking into this a bit myself, and from what I've read, Sceptre appears to be one of the better brands for completely dumb TVs these days.

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Baaron87 26 points 2 years ago

Can definitely vouch for Sceptre. Have a computer monitor from them and a TV as well. Absolutely love them both. My concern is actually tracking down Sceptre anything though. They’re constantly out of stock on their website

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ArgentRaven 32 points 2 years ago

I bought a cheap Vizio, and never connected it or let it connect to anything. All it does is power on, and go to HDMI-1. My pc it connects to does everything else.

If you're concerned about privacy on your tv, I would recommend migrating away from Roku as well.

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Zier 8 points 2 years ago

Ditto, I did the same. FYI, you can't use bluetooth or screencast unless you connect it to the internet, and I didn't really need those features.

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NeoNachtwaechter 23 points 2 years ago

For privacy reasons I don't want my TV to EVER have access to my wifi.

I think the same.

But if you can't avoid it and it is only 1 time, there's a workaround:

Use your phone.
Switch on the mobile hotspot.
Rename the hotspot Wifi-name, and it's password.

Then set up your TV with this temp Wifi.

Then rename things back on your phone.

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LedgeDrop 8 points 2 years ago

In addition, you can force your cellphone to GSM/2G (ie: super slow internet).

Depending on what your TV does when it "activates", if it just needs to "activate/register" - it should be fine. If it needs to "update/upgrade/add a bunch of crapware" - Your internet will be so slow, you can turn it off before it's finished (note: there is a slim chance that, this could also put your TV in a broken state - if it does, simply do a factory reset and try again)

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ptz 22 points 2 years ago

Most recommendations I get for TV's like this are to buy a display meant for digital signage or conference rooms. They're usually a little more expensive but also made to last. They're also mostly just dumb monitors.

I haven't gone that route yet, but it's on my roadmap. My current "TV"s are just a projector connected to my HTPC and a 32" PC monitor in a similar configuration upstairs.

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quixotic120 13 points 2 years ago

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bizarroland 10 points 2 years ago

My solution for this is if you absolutely cannot bypass the connect Network to set up function, set up a hotspot on your phone. Let it download it's you know what 150 MB update and then turn off your Wi-Fi hotspot

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otter 15 points 2 years ago

You could take it a step further and set a temporary network name & password for the hotspot, and then change it back afterwards

that way you can use your hotspot near your TV in the future without worry

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reddig33 19 points 2 years ago

There was an article going around that explained how to disable internet connections on various smart TVs. I wish I could find it.

For TVs with Roku built in, the solution was simply to select the option for no internet connection during initial setup. If you’ve already set up your TV, you go to settings and reset it like you’re getting ready to sell the device. That puts you back to initial setup where you can skip the network connection option.

What you can’t do on the Roku tv is tell it you have internet, but then try to use some sort of firewall or network connection to block it from phoning home. The front light on the tv will blink, and when you turn the tv on it will complain that it can’t connect. You have to choose no internet on initial setup if you want it to act like a “dumb” tv.

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0x0 3 points 2 years ago

There was an article going around

I'm surprised there's no wiki on it: TVs, projectors, monitors...

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0x0 14 points 2 years ago

I'm gonna start selling smart TVs and call my company Orwellian Enterprises.

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ownsauce 14 points 2 years ago

I've seen Sceptre recommended whenever this question pops up. https://www.sceptre.com/

I've also had a lot of fun using a projector in the living room as a display (with blackout curtains on the windows) but it may require some care to make the bulb last longer. And it was a bit annoying trying to figure out how to get audio and video working for consoles/laptops. I think you might need some kind of HDMI splitter and speakers to get audio and video working properly?

Another useful search term is "Display" or "Commercial Display" instead of "TV"

These "Displays" will be TV's without any of the bloatware and spyware, but may be missing features like refresh rates, picture quality, etc.

For example here: https://www.lg.com/us/business/commercial-displays

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0x0 5 points 2 years ago

but it may require some care to make the bulb last longer.

LED projectors are a thing now^1^, much smaller and last longer.

^1^ The Pre-loaded key streaming applications. bit kinda worries me.

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magic_smoke 4 points 2 years ago

Recently bought a cheap set from spectre for $150. Forgot to check the res, and it only does 1080, but then again 90% of what I do with that TV is play Switch anyhow. I have a nicer ultra wide on my desk for everything else.

The TV itself works well. The first time set up is the optional search for digital OTA TV channels, and the only "smart" feature is that you can plug in a flash drive with MP3/FLACs and use it as a music player for some reason, would've been cool if it played mp4s too. Then again, that's what the HDMI in is for.

The menu/feature set feels very 2009 and I love it for that. Luckily the picture, bezel, and price don't.

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lemmyng 8 points 2 years ago

Off the commercial off the shelf "smart" TVs available, I started by looking at the OSes available. Choices were Roku, webOS, Tizen, and Google TV. I immediately ruled out Roku because of their recent changes to terms&conditions. webOS is pretty much limited to LG TVs, and I had bad experiences with LG warranties, so I ruled that out. Tizen (Samsung) was out for similar reasons, so that left me with Google TV. It's... OK. Doesn't require Internet connection to work, and doesn't nag me about it. And it came with a hardware switch to turn off the microphone. Not sure if that's a brand thing (Hisense) or applicable to all Google TV devices, but was reassuring.

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Magister 2 points 2 years ago

Same. Got burned with a Roku, then a tv with Yahoo! TV.

Now I have a Hisense with google TV, it's not bad, no ads, apps like Netflix and Disney+ are in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

My mic is off too 😉

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d0ntpan1c 1 point 2 years ago

I was a roku fan for s long time until they really enshittified (which sucks, since their UI overall is superior and their products are supported for a really, really long time)

I dont see moving away from android any time soon, and i'm not quite ready/willing to take the plunge into alternate ROM's (the pixel festures are really nice!) so I figure google TV at least isnt going to learn much about me that google doesnt already know. The newer OS iteration isnt that bad a UI, either.

I do think all this will motivate me to get a kodi device set up and use the smart TV stuff a lot less, though, and I dont think I'll be in a rush to replace my existing roku TV's/boxes for secondary room use. I can tell they have a bit of targeted ads, but it mostly seems based on content I watch on the TV itself. Probably helps that most of my online life on home-based internet usage is very filtered of tracking through my router, though i haven't put a ton of effort into blocking roku specifically.

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EndOfLine 7 points 2 years ago

It's been a few years since I last bought a TV, but I've been happy with my Sony. About once or twice a year I get a "software update available" message, which is weird since it has never been connected to any network, but I just dismiss it and continue my regular usage.

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dual_sport_dork 13 points 2 years ago

My LG smart TV from 2017 or so has never been connected to any network.

About two years after I set it up, it went through this phase where every time I powered it on I got a new nag popup about this app, that app, this streaming service, and that streaming service having their "support ended" after which they would no longer work. One after the other. I can only conclude that the thing had fucking suicide timers built into all of its onboard apps to deliberately pull this crap on you regardless of any other factors to try to trick or entice you into buying a new TV.

Needless to say, I did not buy a new TV. Mine has had a PC plugged into it and has since day 1, which serves it all of its content except that which is generated by retro video game consoles.

What a crock of shit.

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0x0 4 points 2 years ago

never been connected to any network

Any open WiFi nearby?

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amongstthetrees 6 points 2 years ago

For a TV that can be set up as a 'dumb tv' and you can even reject the terms and conditions: Hisense surprisingly.

My partner got one a month ago and it was stupid simple to set up and asks you if you want to set up as a Smart TV or as a Basic TV.

Also ditch the Roku, that's absolutely just as bad as using the onboard smart tv functions. Theres NVidia Shield, Apple TV, or with a little setup a Raspberry Pi running Kodi.

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JamesTBagg 3 points 2 years ago

I couldn't do that with my Hisense. There was no way to move past linking an email.

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Mr_Mope 1 point 2 years ago

Functionality, ease of use, and longevity taken into account, I'll have to disagree based on my experience. Shield, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire, Raspberry Pi in that order. But if they're planning on using it just for streaming, a Roku stick is the simplest, cheapest, and easiest option. And unless they're already deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem, I'd avoid it too.

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jayandp 6 points 2 years ago

So far all the Roku TVs I've tried will let you skip setting up Internet on them and then default to a dumbed down mode where the Homescreen is just TV inputs, and you can access the settings menu. Haven't had a chance to test a recent Android/Google TV.

Update: Seems Sony, TCL, and maybe some other Android/Google TV makers allow using the TV without linking a Google Account.

https://www.sony.com/...

https://support.tcl.com/...

https://support.tcl.com/...

Update 2: Samsung seems to let you skip logging into their TVs during setup via a Skip button in the top-right corner, but it's unclear if you can skip connecting to the Internet at all.

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bcgm3 3 points 2 years ago

I got a TCL with Google TV earlier this year (the same model was available from both Best Buy and Wal-Mart), can confirm that I didn't have to sign into anything or even connect it to the net to use the coax or HDMI ports. Also it remembers the last used connection, so I don't even have to skip past the Google TV stuff when I turn it on.

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AlexanderESmith 5 points 2 years ago

Easy; Don't buy a TV with Roku. Dumber smart TVs are still a hassle, but I haven't heard of one that requires activation (yet).

Anecdotally, my Samsung projector wanted me to connect it to the WiFi. I told it to fuck off and connected a Shield to it (probably going to replace it with a beelink soon). It has a large green banner across the top when I go for the menu, but I almost never do that.

My friend got the same projector, set everything up, and the fucker displays ads. Seriously, what the fuck. I'll take the green bar.

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avidamoeba 5 points 2 years ago

The last time I activated a TV was in 2022. It was a Sony X85K and it didn't require a connection. I've subsequently only used it with a CCwGTV.

Before that I activated a Samsung U..7300 or something like that in 2020. That didn't require connection either. I also used it with a CCwGTV.

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vonxylofon 4 points 2 years ago

Bought a Panasonic with Android TV about a year or two ago, and used it for a while solely as a screen for my Kodi box, no internet connection. Worked perfectly. The TV's image quality leaves something to be desired (especially backlight uniformity), though.

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RizzRustbolt 4 points 2 years ago

Commercial flatscreen panels.

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MelodiousFunk 3 points 2 years ago

I have two Vizio panels, a 2017 and a 2023. Neither are connected to my network. The 2017 got a couple of firmware updates via wired connection in the first year but I nixed that after an update nearly bricked it. The 2023 will turn itself back on for a few seconds occasionally (just the electronics, not the panel)... possibly looking for an open network but I have no way to verify. Neither complain about a lack of connection unless I accidentally select their streaming input.

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_bcron_ 2 points 2 years ago

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