Instead of ‘splurging’ on a dumb tv bc they’re more expensive now thanks to the data sompanies sell off of smart tvs I was considering getting a smart tv and dumbing it down. Is the way to do this never connecting it to the internet? And is that the only way?
I have a “smart” TV with a network cable plugged into nothing at all, with no wifi connected, plugged into an Oooold Lenovo Tiny PC running Mint. The Mint box does all my smarts. Pihole, ad-block, all that jazz. It never occurred to me that it might have connected to some open wifi out there, but none of my neighbors have guest wifi or anything, so hopefully I’m good. It’s definitely not on my wifi, anyways.
You should educate yourself about Amazon’s “sidewalk” network. You won’t have to worry about open wifi networks soon; they’ll just be the default, and bluetooth - so you can’t turn them off without also disabling the remote your TV came with.
Hmm… The nice thing is, I don’t use the remote. I have a little wireless keyboard plugged in to my Tiny PC… But yuck. I guess I’ll have to start tinfoil hat wearing soon.