I was doing something similar, except I went for an LG tv for Web OS in the hopes something good would come out of it being open source.

As luck would have it, https://rootmy.tv came out for Web OS. It's still in a very basic stage, but it's better than nothing!

I'm a HomeAssistant user, so I do want my TV connected to my network.

I don't want the TV itself to be connected to the network. It should be a dumb display device. The less brains it is supposed to have, the better. I've got an old Samsung 1080p HDTV that still hasn't needed upgrading all these years, and the more shit I hear about what is going on with 4k TVs, the less I want anything to do with them.

Now, the equipment that takes that display device and actually connects it to things like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, etc.... that IS a device that I want connected to my network. It's called an Apple TV, and definitely is connected to my network. And it connects to the Samsung TV over HDMI.

Awesome! I had no idea this existed. Look forward to giving it a try.

Does anybody know if there are any resources for tampering with the hardware itself to remove networking capabilities from a smart TV? I'd like to just use it as a big monitor, but if there's still a possibility of automatic network activity without my consent then I'd rather just rip out that functionality entirely

Well, you could always investigate how to detach the wifi antennas, though it’s possible your Bluetooth will also stop working, and most TV remotes are Bluetooth these days.

Maybe broadcast a WiFi SSID that blackholes everything?

I don't understand... why don't you just not connect it to your network?

> I've never attached my 2020 LG 4k 65" to any network and it works great.

I guess that would work as long as you move to a place far away from humanity. It definitely won't work if a neighbour runs a WiFi hotspot without password protection.

What would happen if you configured manual network and gave it a fake DNS or sent it over to PiHole for example? Wouldnt there be plenty of ways to capture the traffic and stop it from going where it wants to go? I would think the tech savvy folks on this site would be able to figure something out if it is a big enough concern of theirs.

I have not come across a working password free residential wifi hotspot in almost a decade - because routers have had passwords by default.

I live in an apartment building downtown adjacent to other buildings. They are all around me.

My observation is the open wifi's are much more prevalent in dense living situations like apartments, condos, townhomes, and shared work spaces.

Aren't the newer smart TVs equipped with a cell modem so they can phone home without wifi, or they stop working after not being updated for x days?

Can you name some models? Between that, and user-space wireguard, I think, there might be a bleak future ahead for ad-blocking.

There is no evidence of this and we would know. Its not easy to hide wireless signals.

No, but there are definitely ones that will try to randomly connect to any open wifi networks if left unattended.

Since you claim "definitely" can you point to one?

I hear this claim a lot but have never actually found even a single one that does.

I don't think there are any? This is always a wild speculation about the hellscape to come in the future in these threads, but as far as I know nothing like this actually exist. My TV I bought last year has never been connected to WiFi and never will be.

At least in Europe having a cell modem would ruin the company, who would pay phone bills? Sure as hell not me.

> who would pay phone bills

Advertisers or data brokers? They’re already subsidizing the purchase price of TVs.

Neither of these things are true.