this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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Hisense TVs force owners to watch intrusive ads when switching inputs, visiting the home screen, or even changing channels — practice infuriates consumers, brand denies wrongdoing (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 6 days ago by throws_lemy@reddthat.com to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] matlag@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 days ago

No, it's not robust. It may work for your TV, but it can be worked around.

DNS is like a phone directory for Internet: it translates domain name to IP addresses. If you block the DNS (what pihole does), it blocks the directory access. But if the IP address of the servers are hard-coded in the firmware, the TV does not need a DNS, it can reach the server directly.

To trick the TV, you need to restrict the IPs it can reach. It might be delicate: it probably tries to ping some comme IPs to check it's connected, then call the brand's server for ads/updates/etc.