[Larrikin]

Networks with no password and no captive sign in portal are extremely rare nowadays. They are on by default and anyone with the IT ability to go in and change it will already know the dangers of letting anyone use the Internet you are paying for.

But also are there any actual confirmed cases of TVs doing this? The comment section here always fear mongers about it (kudos for not mentioning Amazon sidewalk), but it isn't anything worth worrying about currently.

[1101010010]

> Networks with no password and no captive sign in portal are extremely rare nowadays.

In my suburban-American experience, they are in fact they are more common these days as more consumers purchase and own ISP-provided equipment.

> But also are there any actual confirmed cases of TVs doing this?

Given the nature of proprietary closed source software, I am willing to accept a less than charitable assumption of what they do.

[Godel_unicode]

Which ISPs are giving out APs with no key needed and no captive portal? Every one that I’m aware of requires some manner of secret to login to the shared AP.

[roywiggins]

There's nothing actually stopping an ISP from making a deal with a TV manufacturer to provide connectivity though, is there?

[Godel_unicode]

There’s also nothing stopping any of them from including an Iridium modem in their sets. Or using aircrack to try and break into a nearby network. Or any other tinfoil hat thing we can come up with.

There are literally thousands of paranoid security researchers who would love to post about something like this (hi), and none of them have. That’s hardly conclusive, but if it’s not good enough for you then maybe you should reconsider whether society is the place for you.

[roywiggins]

I'm sure they're not doing it now, I'm not sure they won't do it eventually. I don't think it can be done without people noticing but I'm also not sure they'll think that far ahead.

[Godel_unicode]

I don’t understand the point you’re making. Someone might eventually start doing something they’re not currently doing?

[kjs3]

Why would you think LG/Samsung/Sony/etc don't have corp creds for every ISP AP on the planet?

[Godel_unicode]

That’s moving the goalpost pretty far, don’t you think?

[kjs3]

No. Why do you think it is? If the business model is "connect to the mothership and feed us data at all costs", why wouldn't they just arrange with the ISPs to allow their devices to connect?

[Godel_unicode]

We were talking about open Wi-Fi networks.

This paranoid alternate reality where tv companies are paying every ISP for backdoor access is very, very far away from flipping the “opportunistically join open networks” bit. It’s also not borne out by either research or logic.

> at all costs

Nothing works like that. They don’t care about you, beyond the pennies they can make. If it costs (and it would) they won’t do it.

[chillfox]

Not really, The default wifi router supplied by the biggest ISP here has got a guest network turned on by default.

[Larrikin]

Which ISP? Comcast in America does that crap, but it's worthless to snoopers since you need a Comcast account to do anything on it, so will actively need to log in.

[Godel_unicode]

Can you connect to it and get internet without hitting a captive portal that requires your ISP creds? That’s usually how it happens in the US.