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
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    11 months 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
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        11 months 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
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          11 months 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
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            11 months 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
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              11 months 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
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                11 months 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
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      11 months 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.