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Why is my unused Vizio TV sending gigabytes of traffic every day?

Author: kirkouimet

Score: 43

Comments: 19

Date: 2020-10-27 22:06:16

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mdorazio wrote at 2020-10-27 22:27:02:

Well it's not just you [1]. I don't have any data to support it, but I'm personally guessing either it's a ridiculously massive update, some overzealous ACR, or they may have setup some kind of p2p streaming system for who knows what reason. If you don't want to turn off wi-fi to the TV entirely, maybe try disabling ACR [2] to see if that does anything.

[1]

https://www.reddit.com/r/VizioTV/comments/96gtti/vizio_tv_us...

[2]

https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/how-to-turn-off-smar...

gentleman11 wrote at 2020-10-27 22:37:47:

I would be upset if my tv sent a single byte of information out. I use an old lcd and if it ever dies, I just don’t even know what we’ll do. Can you even buy TVs anymore that don’t spy on you?

ashtonkem wrote at 2020-10-27 22:41:57:

You could just not configure the network on a smart TV if you can’t find a dumb one.

salawat wrote at 2020-10-27 23:10:38:

Actually, I recall articles which mention certain brands would look for nearby unsecured networks. All of that goes out the window if vendors start provisioning SIMs and use the cellular network.

I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't have some code for looking for undersecured networks capable of being exploited to derive credentials, though at least then you'd have grounds to sue under CFAA.

myrandomcomment wrote at 2020-10-27 23:47:04:

This is HN lore. Commented many times, but no one has the proof.

I have an old Vizio and 2 Samsungs. Configured them wired to updated the firmware then blocked the port on the switch. I use an AppleTV for everything as I know what it is sharing.

heroprotagonist wrote at 2020-10-28 09:21:47:

It doesn't even need that, really. Zigbee and similar long range wireless mesh networks are very realistic (and probably cheaper) for basic usage data.

Bandwidth is much more limited so it probably won't send screenshots of what you're watching like has been reported with some TVs. Screenshots aren't really needed, though, when there's a host of other metadata and on-device processing available.

sidpatil wrote at 2020-10-27 23:33:54:

Embedded SIMs won't be an insurmountable problem as long as the TV can work without network connectivity, but they'll be very inconvenient to deal with.

A destructive approach would involve desoldering the chip or unplugging the antenna. A nondestructive approach would involve Faraday-caging the television: a mesh or aluminum foil taped around where the antenna resides.

myrandomcomment wrote at 2020-10-27 23:47:46:

The issue can be solved by not buying a TV with a SIM (hopefully still a choice).

GoToRO wrote at 2020-10-27 22:48:04:

2 years ago with a Samsung tv: no network, no terms and conditions signed, no terms signed, the tv would always forget to use the same input it was using before restart (degraded functionality). I never tried to remove the network after I signed the terms, maybe it woul have still worked.

zamadatix wrote at 2020-10-28 02:59:33:

I only connect my Samsung TVs for firmware updates, seems to work fine pulling the plug after.

curtis3389 wrote at 2020-10-27 22:39:01:

Yes. Sceptre is a good brand for dumb TVs.

gentleman11 wrote at 2020-10-28 19:16:13:

Noted

aaron695 wrote at 2020-10-27 23:40:19:

What about a boring, you are looking at the data usage for the wrong device? What's the logging graphic from?

The uploads to downloads look like P2P.

Not sure why it'd be asymmetrical though if you aren't managing it and what would it be storing on at that GB? Is there a hard disk in the TV?

gorkish wrote at 2020-10-28 02:13:42:

You are using a Ubiquiti device that gathers ip accounting information from a slew of various devices on the network then tries to cram it all together into an overall view. It seems widely accepted that their statistics aren't that reliable. My system reported day that my sleeping macbook sent out 7TB of data. /Narrator: It did not./

Are you totally positive and 100% sure that this is even Internet traffic? Unifi will report all LAN traffic too. Some of those first gen smart TVs will spew untold amounts of multicast and broadcast in an effort to discover DLNA servers and other media devices.

Anything other than speculative theories?

nosmokewhereiam wrote at 2020-10-27 22:41:04:

Any .pcap data? Maybe we could see the domains being called?

aleister_777 wrote at 2020-10-27 22:09:02:

Interesting question and I agree.

Also, what are you "unusing" it for exactly that requires it to have power?

kirkouimet wrote at 2020-10-27 22:09:57:

Just have it powered on for my Apple TV, I never use any of the features of the TV, but I did connect it to the WiFi when I first set it up.

chadlavi wrote at 2020-10-27 23:33:09:

so you do use it to watch your AppleTV?

mbushey wrote at 2020-10-27 22:17:55:

I don't understand what would possess anyone to hand over their wifi creds to a TV. Sounds like you should change your wifi pass.