Smart-TV blocklist for Pi-Hole • Hacker News Board

MerelyMortal wrote: post #82

TeamXe wrote: post #32

For those who are still looking for dumb tvs these are the best ones available as far as I'm aware. Bought one last year and works as expected. https://www.sceptre.com/TV/4K-UHD-TV-category1category73.htm...

I wanted an 85" TV, and unfortunately Sceptre only makes up to 75". I ended up with a Costco 85" LG and unplugged the WiFi card before turning it on, and so far it's worked very well for me. I wish I could have voted with my wallet on this.

Unfortunately LG has terrible sound - but a soundbar works well.

Unfortunately the LG soundbars - which integrate well with the TV - use a wifi based wireless subwoofer. the soundbar becomes a wifi access point.

There don't appear to be any wired soundbars. I guess a component speaker system + receiver is the solution, which is probably much better sound anyway.

Re: Smart-TV blocklist for Pi-Hole

#94

Post by tra3 » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 2:49 AM UTC

I just upgraded my ISP's router/modem and got rid of my old mikrotik. Turns out that the new router does not allow me to set custom DNS.

The new system uses a weird management style -- a combination of on router settings (https://10.0.0.1 whatever admin console) and an ISP portal. I can't set port forwarding unless I go to the ISP portal. I suppose it's to support the mobile app they are pushing. The lack of DNS customization is a pain though.

Re: Smart-TV blocklist for Pi-Hole

#95

Post by xattt » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 2:52 AM UTC

FYI: These lists integrate quite easily into things other than Pihole that do DNS blocking. I’m using this with a DNSMasq blocklist on an Edgerouter.

Re: Smart-TV blocklist for Pi-Hole

#96

Post by heavyset_go » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 2:53 AM UTC

the_snooze wrote: post #89

nobody9999 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I agree despite using DNS blocking myself. DNS blocking can easily be mitigated against with DoH or DoT at the application level. It's only a matter of time before advertisers start using either to bypass DNS blocking and serve ads. DoH/DoT are just the camel's nose under the tent. Just wait (perhaps it's already happening) until TV manufacturers install 4g/5g modems in their devices. At which point, there will be a…

>Just wait (perhaps it's already happening) until TV manufacturers install 4g/5g modems in their devices. I hear this raised every now and then, but is that even feasible economically? Those embedded cell connections are a recurring cost, after all. I'm curious if the per-unit revenue from ads and tracking is large enough to justify the per-unit cost to send/receive that data over a cell connection. Seems like UI nud…

I imagine that, at some point, advertising will pay for the costs of internet connections. I can also imagine companies subsidizing the costs of internet connections just so they can get their hands on data, or to accelerate the business model.

Re: Smart-TV blocklist for Pi-Hole

#97

Post by encryptluks2 » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 2:54 AM UTC

tra3 wrote: post #94

I just upgraded my ISP's router/modem and got rid of my old mikrotik. Turns out that the new router does not allow me to set custom DNS. The new system uses a weird management style -- a combination of on router settings ( https://10.0.0.1 whatever admin console) and an ISP portal. I can't set port forwarding unless I go to the ISP portal. I suppose it's to support the mobile app they are pushing. The lack of DNS cus…

That is why you should always avoid your ISP modem/router combos.

Re: Smart-TV blocklist for Pi-Hole

#98

Post by lvs » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 2:58 AM UTC

You probably only have a few services that you genuinely want the TV to reach. If I had a "smart" TV, I think I'd go with a whitelisting approach instead.

Re: Smart-TV blocklist for Pi-Hole

#99

Post by rahimnathwani » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 3:00 AM UTC

tra3 wrote: post #94

I just upgraded my ISP's router/modem and got rid of my old mikrotik. Turns out that the new router does not allow me to set custom DNS. The new system uses a weird management style -- a combination of on router settings ( https://10.0.0.1 whatever admin console) and an ISP portal. I can't set port forwarding unless I go to the ISP portal. I suppose it's to support the mobile app they are pushing. The lack of DNS cus…

I'm assuming you're talking about Xfinity xFi. If so, you can just put it in bridge mode and use your own router.

Your own router will need to use a different private address range (e.g. 192.168.1.x or 172.16.0.x) because then you'll still be able to connect to the xFi admin interface on 10.0.0.1 (e.g. if you decide to turn off bridge mode).

Re: Smart-TV blocklist for Pi-Hole

#100

Post by m-p-3 » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 3:01 AM UTC

gonehome wrote: post #80

u2077 wrote: post #34

I was just thinking about how much I hate our TV blasting random shows every time I turn it on. Who on earth wants more “recommendations by ai”? AI is short for advertising industry at this point.

Samsung? I can’t stand their stuff for this reason. I think the LG OLEDs are the best available option, but they’re not perfect either. NextDNS is also great for something a little easier to manage than PiHole (plus also easy to use outside of your home network and on mobile).

And the list is already available on NextDNS

https://i.imgur.com/Uo2n50s.png