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Putting a smart TV on its own network

Some model pages on this site note that the TV is reported to scan the local network for other devices, and that there's no settings toggle for it. If you'd rather your TV couldn't see your phones, laptops or other devices, the usual approach is to give it a network of its own. This is standard home-network advice for any connected device, not something specific to one brand.

Whether a specific TV scans the local network is sourced per model on each model's own page, and isn't assumed to be true just because a different brand's model does it.

Settings come first

A separate network doesn't change what the TV itself collects. For ACR — LG's "Live Plus" — the setting is what matters: the IMC 2024 study found that opting out in the TV's settings stopped traffic to the ACR servers on the LG and Samsung sets it tested. See what ACR is and how to turn it off, and your model's page for the exact menu path where we've verified one.

Options, simplest first

  1. Use your router's guest network. Many home routers have one. Devices on it can reach the internet but not the devices on your main network. Connect the TV to the guest network instead of your main one.
  2. Use a separate VLAN. On routers that support it (OPNsense, pfSense, and many enthusiast and some consumer models), a VLAN for the TV does the same job with more control over what it can reach.
  3. Prefer a wired connection. Plug the TV into the separate network by cable, and turn Wi-Fi off in its settings.

One gap worth knowing about: a separate network only covers the networks you control. If the TV has a saved Wi-Fi profile for your main network, it can reconnect to that instead. There's no evidence that TVs join unfamiliar networks on their own, but the simplest setup is a wired connection to the separate network, with no saved Wi-Fi networks and Wi-Fi turned off.

What you may give up

Features that rely on the TV and your phone being on the same network, such as casting or a phone remote app, may stop working while they're on different networks. Some routers let you allow specific devices to talk across networks; check your router's documentation.

TVs without a smart platform

If you're buying a new TV, a set with no smart platform has no network features to manage at all. See TVs without a smart platform for what's still for sale in the US and UK.