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Comment by glitchc | Hacker News Reader

Just unplug it from the network. That should get rid of most of it. I have an LG smart TV that has never seen the network. I get no ads, no popups, no features, no EULA, nothing. It behaves like a dumb TV.

It was the LG 65UH series from Costco.

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HDMI cables can double as Ethernet cables. In the future "just unplug it from the network" will mean "just unplug all HDMI devices".

that's not the point, block it at the router.

What am I missing that makes HDMI cables doubling as ethernet cables a problem for blocking it from accessing the network?

> What am I missing that makes HDMI cables doubling as ethernet cables a problem for blocking it from accessing the network?

You block the TV from accessing the network.

You connect the TV to a device that will let you stream Netflix, via HDMI.

The TV requests internet connectivity over HDMI through that device automatically.

Blocking the network access to the TV has now been worked around and no longer matters.

Doesn't that depend on the cable? I thought you had to pay extra for Ethernet support.

Yes, it does depend on the cable. Not all HDMI cables support it. I think it's cheap enough to add that many or most HDMI cables will support it in the future, if they do not already.

Please stop repeating this. Yes, it's in the spec, but can you find anything that actually implements it? Manufacturers can barely get HDMI CEC working, let alone Ethernet.

Plus it's 100Mbit Ethernet. Too bad you can't use the full bandwidth of HDMI as a network interface.

This requires both ends (source and receiver) to be configured for Ethernet over HDMI.

I wonder if one day they’ll connect to other TVs that are online to get around the WiFi.

Or have a GPS and realize that it’s been 12 months since their last mandatory update and lock you out.

Why would you need a GPS for that?

GPS provides high quality RTC signals. So the TV could update its time with high accuracy via GPS and countdown a timer.

Thankfully the majority of people use their TV indoors.

All you need is to glimpse 1 satellite for a short while if you're looking for a roughly accurate time. You need 3 to get a position fix, but fewer will still give you the time.

I agree, Could use WWVW or whatever it’s called.

Changing your computer’s time to the past used to be a great way to prolong 30 day trials or pay-by-the-year software in the 386 and 486 days.

They'll ship with a sim card and connect to mobile.

This is one of the reasons I’m not excited about 5g.

Yeah saw that mentioned in another thread, that’s much more straightforward and reliable.

I've read about TVs that already did that. The owner purposefully didn't configure WiFi or Ethernet, and months later the TV suddenly prompted to install an update because it found a neighbour's open WiFi.

That's the entire point of the 5G rush.

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