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Just don’t use any of the smart TV’s “smart” functionality. Don’t even connect it to the Internet or give it your Wi-Fi password.

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It is still creepy to have tech in my home that is trying to betray me, even if it isn’t successful. Also you never know if some well-intentioned person might connect it to wifi.

That’s why you connect it to an IoT network that has no internet access.

I don’t think that would obviously solve the problem; depending on the UI it might still show up as not having an internet connection after all.

I have a smart TV but drive it externally, if you even visit the wifi menu, it will nag you about not being connected until it is rebooted. It has never touched the network.

Just do your homework before purchasing to make sure this is possible.

In this vein, I just bought a Hisense QD6 series TV from Costco. I run it in "store" mode connected to a PC and it serves well as just a big, dumb 4K display.

Or they start to require internet access before you can use the device. Even if it's periodic. Once a month you have to connect to the internet to validate your license and agreement, wherein it uploads your watch history and downloads new ads.

The box will still be warm from the warm of the store I bought it from when I take it back for a return. How’s that thing going to work at my remote cabin?

Remote cabins almost all get internet these days thanks to Starlink.

I did this with a Samsung TV I got recently. I works great. I am really not sure why everyone is upset. If you don't want to use the smart features, you don't have to. All you have to do is not connect the smart TV to the Internet.

This won't make the "smart" disappear, nor its problems (buggy software, bloatware slowing down everything), and you'll still need to pay more for it.

Until they come with their own connection embedded, which you know is what's going to happen. Just like cars.

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