meme_pihole_smartTV_transparent_logo_png.jpeg
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OK, so whenever any device (e.g. your computer) wants to connect to a website (say, "wikipedia.org"), it tells your router that it wants to go to that website. Your router then sends what is called a "DNS Query" to some server, such as Google or Cloudflare, which takes the string of characters "wikipedia.org" and looks it up in their own dictionary of websites. In that listing, "wikipedia.org" will be linked to a specific IP address, which Google or Cloudflare then pass back to the router. Your router then connects the original device to that IP address, allowing your computer to get data from wikipedia.
Now, modern devices make up to hundreds of these requests every second, so it's not like it's going to ask your permission for every single _one of them, right? Of course not. The problem, however, is that virtually every single proprietary app and piece of networked hardware nowadays is actively spying on you, by sending constant "telemetry", marketing, and ad-servicing requests to hundreds, or even thousands of different services every day.
Pihole is a program that runs on a device (traditionally a raspberry pi, but could also be as simple as an old always-on tower computer or as complex as a self-hosted server). This device is connected to your internet, and what you do is you tell your router that the only place it's allowed to ask for DNS queries is your pihole device, rather than google or Cloudflare. Then you add blocklists, en masse, to your pihole, which takes every single DNS Query and checks it against the blocklists. If a DNS request isn't on the blocklists, it passes the request on to an actual DNS server, like Cloudflare, then gives the response back to the router, and the router is none-the-wiser. You get to see wikipedia. HOWEVER, if your device has the temerity, the absolute gall, to connect to any server on your blocklists? The pihole just... Doesn't pass on the message, and you get to choose whether the pihole actually sends your device a refusal, like "no, we won't be connecting to google ad services today, thank you" or if it just stays silent, not letting the blacklisted requests through, and just shredding the request every time it gets one for that unwanted site. Also, the pihole can keep a log of every single request made, both blocked and allowed, and keep tallies of the most-requested servers. It does this by default, but can easily be told to stop whenever you want.
TooComplex;Didn'tUnderstand: imagine your local network is a medieval walled city. Whenever someone inside wants to communicate out, they send their letter to the post office, which sends a runner out of the city and returns with the response. A pihole acts as a guard at the city gate, taking every letter, checking the addressee to see if the city's magistrate is okay with sending information there. The guard has a long list of places letters aren't allowed to go, and they are very fast at their job. If the addressee isn't on their list, they send out their own soldier to take the letter themselves, rather than letting the post office runner go. If the addressee is on the blocklists, they either rip up the letter and send the runner back with their own, or they just rip up the letter and beat up the runner so they don't go crying back to the sender and narc. Its the magistrate's call how the guard handles it. Also, the guard keeps a list of every single letter that arrives at the gate, unless the magistrate tells them not to. The magistrate can peruse the list and tell the guard to allow or block any addressee on that list (or off of it) at any time.
Thanks for the comprehensive answer. I was hoping for something more like an alt-OS for the TV, so it doesn't ask for updates all the time or really do anything besides cast from a computer or console
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It's Pi Hole. Everything's computer.
I love my PI hole but it's needing a complete upgrade and a list rebuild. Damned thing is so reliable and solid I literally forget I'm running it. Things been up for over a year and not one issue.
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It's Pi Hole. Everything's computer.
Unplug your TV from the internet and plug the HDMI into a machine running Kodi or similar.
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Thanks for the comprehensive answer. I was hoping for something more like an alt-OS for the TV, so it doesn't ask for updates all the time or really do anything besides cast from a computer or console
Ah, yeah, for that, just factory reset it, don't connect it to the internet on setup and use HDMI.
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Thanks for the comprehensive answer. I was hoping for something more like an alt-OS for the TV, so it doesn't ask for updates all the time or really do anything besides cast from a computer or console
Fun fact: all these smart TVs run Linux, which is supposed to facilitate that, but they're DRM'd to prevent it instead. There are active lawsuits going on about it.
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Time to do the ol' firewall redirect for port 53
I do that with my mikrotik router. It is amazing for Google devices. Too bad I got rid of my last Google home device a year ago
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Unplug your TV from the internet and plug the HDMI into a machine running Kodi or similar.
If you've got the hardware capabilities, I just Read yesterday that Kodi supports CEC and can be used to control your DVD player or Set Top boxes that also support it IF you have it plugged into your CEC port.
This means turning a raspberry pi into the best media access client there is for a TV takes like 20-40 minutes (install librelec, profit?)
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Ah, yeah, for that, just factory reset it, don't connect it to the internet on setup and use HDMI.
My wife likes to cast YouTube from her phone
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Thanks for the comprehensive answer. I was hoping for something more like an alt-OS for the TV, so it doesn't ask for updates all the time or really do anything besides cast from a computer or console
An alternate less useful answer might be looking up TVs marked as "commercial displays". They are a less consumer marketed display.
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It's Pi Hole. Everything's computer.
At this time I'd like to shill for Sceptre. They make tvs and monitors that don't have all that stupid fucking "smart" features. I do not know of another brand that still makes dumb screens.
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What is pi hole? I would love to dumbify my smart tv if possible..
You should be able to go into your router and block internet access for your tv, no additional hardware necessary. And it's more reliable than pi-hole since it'll block all internet access, even static ips, and no chance of a dns leak.
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Helped me get a job, after the incident....
The… the incident????
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Unplug your TV from the internet and plug the HDMI into a machine running Kodi or similar.
Lmao but the Nvidia shield also have bullshit ads
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What is pi hole? I would love to dumbify my smart tv if possible..
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My wife likes to cast YouTube from her phone
Could that work if you connect it to LAN but don't allow it to communicate outside of your network?
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Nope, sponsorblocked.
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Could that work if you connect it to LAN but don't allow it to communicate outside of your network?
I'm 99% sure "casting" a website just opens that site on the device and gives you remote control. It gets the data through the WAN, not your phone.
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How has SmartTube been for you? Is it an Android only or does it work on other platforms?
I’ve been a FreeTube user for years, but YouTube’s aggressive countermeasures has mostly rendered this program unusable (I use on Linux). Devs put out fixes but they work for a handful of days before YouTube breaks it again.
wrote last edited by [email protected]SmartTube is, afaik, only for the Shield Devices and similar ddevices - so not really for Smartphones. Most of the time, it is great but for some reason I often get a network error message and the videos stop. So sometimes it's annoying. Haven't found a good solution yet
For smartphones, you can still download ReVanced. When Vanced was closed, they started again with revanced and it works like a charm. It has all premium features (like background listening) and blocks adds, even sponsored or fillers. The problem is the download, if you ask me. Because there is an official webside, but the download starts after it redirected you to some suspicious add website...
Alternatively, you can download NewPipe. If you don't care that you can't login, it's a perfect app. In my opinion, it's not really needed because you can save your profile (backup) and restore. It also blocks all the adds. Best app so far (IMO). It can be downloaded in the F Droid store.
For YouTube music, a good alternative is Kreate. Also available in the FDroid store.
If you have any further questions, ask me anything. Would be glad if I can help
Edit: NouTube is also a good alternative to YouTube premium, but I'm not really happy with the app. My complains are about some details though, so generally speaking, it's worth a try
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Oh, I've really wanted to self-host and do something like that, but I didn't wanna spend too much more money than I have (recently bought drives and a bay) and figured I'd use old/outdated/broken laptops to save money and be environmental, but I've been thwarted by proprietary chargers (an old Acer) and screens not turning on (a broken Mac). I'm a college student so I don't wanna drop my money too much in a month (gotta learn to budget somehow right?). Might ask my college IT if they've got old shit around instead.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Using castoff hardware is a classic first homelab setup. You dont need an actual server to setup a homelab either. Old desktops do the job well enough. I personally run a cluster of 3 of the small desktops i recommend in my last comment, if slightly beefer models. They work great. This site keeps a comprehensive list.
If you're looling for next steps, this is a great general guide. Id personally recommend proxmox of the options he lists. Its a hypervisor that will let you slice up your physical server into virtual machines, letting you split out services like a pihole/*arr stack/jellyfin/kodi in a very sane way.
Linuxserver.io has a huge list of services that you can host with containers inside those virtual machines.
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At this time I'd like to shill for Sceptre. They make tvs and monitors that don't have all that stupid fucking "smart" features. I do not know of another brand that still makes dumb screens.
I bought a Sceptre TV as my first big purchase after graduating college and it's still kicking nearly ten years later. Sure the speakers died a few years ago and several buttons on the remote no longer work, but it sure isn't spying on me. And the picture quality is honestly not bad for what I paid
