we live in hell

I don’t even understand the pitch? you have the disc playing, in your hands, your ownership, no buffering, no subscription required. and they’re saying…hey do you want a worse experience?

      • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        29
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        I blocked the servers with my pihole. Coincidentally, my two smart TVs are the two most blocked devices on my network. It’s not even close.

        https://reddthat.com/pictrs/image/a8efac43-9e00-4f4d-b30b-0ce6d5246f06.jpeg

        This was with only ~1 hour of TV watching, while the device in the third spot is my phone (which I had been using all day). And yet the second TV still had almost 3x as many blocked requests.

        Smart TVs are fucking invasive.

          • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            9
            ·
            1 year ago

            It’s easier than ever these days. The hardest part is figuring out how to configure your router to point devices to it. Because router manufacturers love to bury that setting somewhere deep. For actually setting up the pihole, it’s usually just a matter of flashing the memory card with the right image, then finding some decent block lists. But even the block lists are easy to find nowadays.

            • jrbaconcheese@yall.theatl.social
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              Or worse, you have an ISP-provided modem + router that has it locked down. Yes I could buy a router and put it the modem in bridge mode blah blah, so I just configure each device manually.

              • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                1 year ago

                Yeah, the combined modem/routers are almost all garbage. You really are better off bridging it and letting your own router do the work. Because the ISP has a vested interest in giving you the cheapest router possible.

                • jrbaconcheese@yall.theatl.social
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  It’s actually not that bad; I certainly wouldn’t choose it (it’s an Arris) but I don’t want to put $400 down for a router. (I have no idea what a router costs. I’d also spend a month researching the exact perfect router and then take weeks with custom firmware and configuration and miss spending time with the family.)

                  • MelodiousFunk@kbin.social
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    I’d also spend a month researching the exact perfect router

                    Every time I do this I come away disgusted with how trash most technology is and just how awful manufacturers are willing to make the experience just to get those precious data harvesting bucks. See also: this thread. Womp womp.

        • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          While these things generate more network traffic than they ever should, you should check what traffic is actually being blocked.

          When I looked into my TV, the thing that’s being blocked is actually just the live program database (which Sony put under the same domain as their tracking bullshit). If it can’t reach the internet, it waits for five seconds and tries again.

          Big numbers don’t necessarily mean intended privacy invasion. Especially if you’ve added one of those Smart TV blacklists without looking up what addresses and features they actually block.

      • ZeroCool@feddit.ch
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        So the only way to opt out of this hell is to kill your internet connection?

        No. It’s actually simple to disable. On the Roku TV just go to:

        Settings > Privacy > Select Smart TV Experience and disable “Use Info from TV Inputs”