Forum Discussion

Skai's avatar
Skai
Binge Watcher
2 months ago
Solved

Unable to disable WiFi

I just bough a 50" Onn Roku TV, went through all the "secret" menus and turned off everything pertaining to WiFi. Then tested with my Acoustimeter RF Meter and I thought the radiation was going to me...
Roku TV
tv & player wifi
  • RokuTakashi's avatar
    RokuTakashi
    2 months ago

    Thanks for reaching out, Alex410​ 

    I understand your feedback. Built-in Wi-Fi adapters are common with streaming devices and other devices. In addition, removing or modifying a specific device to remove its Wi-Fi adapter may void warranty with that particular devices, depending on the manufacturer's policy.

    If you need further assistance, feel free to let us know.

    Thanks,

    Roku Community Team 

StreamerP's avatar
StreamerP
Streaming Star
2 months ago

Skai, I went through the same thing a couple of years ago with two different TCL Roku TVs. I spent hours working through the regular and secret menus, and found there was no way to turn off the Wifi via the software. I finally opened the back of the TVs, identified the cable that connects the main board to the small wifi board, and disconnected it from the main board. This worked, but one of the TVs would have to be rebooted once every couple of months. The other one never had a problem. I finally relented a few months ago and reconnected the Wifi on both TVs so I could better troubleshoot issues when they arose.

This is really strange and seems a little nefarious on Roku's part, because I have never had another device (computer, cell phone, TV, or streaming device) that creates and operates an access point when you disable the Wifi. (Yes, it is configured as an access point, not just a Wifi client.) I searched high and low on the web and could not find any rhyme or reason why the Roku TVs do this. The only reason I can think of is because the Roku voice remotes use Wifi instead of Bluetooth, and Roku may want this feature to always be available.

Two other annoying issues with all Roku TVs and devices are: (1) You cannot change the assigned Roku account without resetting the device. (2) You cannot remove an associated Roku voice remote without resetting the device.

  • StreamerUser's avatar
    StreamerUser
    Roku Guru
    2 months ago

    StreamerP​ 

    You need to distinguish between wireless, WiFi, and even WiFi Direct functionality (they arent all the same), and its possible or even preferred (depending on OS/hardware SoC/chipset) that one can disable WiFi Direct, and/or disable WiFi while wireless in general remains active (usually because all the wireless functions are handled by one wireless chipset/SoC, including BT, etc).

    Its very common that folks conflate wireless with WiFi (or WiFi Direct with WiFi) and perhaps reasonably so considering the wireless functionality is contained within a single hardware chipset/SoC, but they are in fact separate (WiFi Direct is a subset of WiFi which is a subset of wireless).

    Also not sure what you consider "disabling the WiFi" when it comes to RokuOS devices (since there is no option to disable WiFi or wireless entirely) - the closest one can get (at the OS level) is disabling Device Connect (WiFi Direct), which of course still leaves wireless (including WiFi) enabled - but there is nothing "strange and nefarious" with RokuOS devices using WiFi Direct (which requires creating an ad-hoc AP in order to facilitate the P2P connections between devices).

    Any device that has Miracast receiver functionality does the same when the Miracast receiver is enabled (e.g. TV's (LG, Samsung, etc), FireTV OS devices, Windows 8/10/11, etc).  Some OS's allow one to more easily enable/disable Miracast (and thus any WiFi Direct AP created by it), but thats all OS-dependent/relative.  Any device that has specific WiFi Direct functionality also does the same (e.g. Android w/file transfer capability, etc) when WiFi Direct is enabled/active.

    As for RokuOS devices it isnt just the Voice Remote that uses Device Connect (WiFi Direct) - Screen Mirroring (Miracast) and Hotel & Dorm Connect also rely on Device Connect (WiFi Direct), so disabling Device Connect not only disables Voice Remotes, but also Screen Mirroring (Miracast) and Hotel & Dorm Connect.

    RokuOS TV's are no different than RokuOS players or RokuOS soundbars - by default they have Device Connect enabled so that Voice Remotes/Screen Mirroring/Hotel & Dorm Connect all work without issue.

    As for the other "annoyances":

    1. Since apps and some OS settings are account associated and not device associated changing the account would effectively require resetting the device (e.g. Guest Mode) in some way, though perhaps this could/should be done in a process less than a Factory Reset, though OS/settings and apps will still need to be (re)configured/authenticated.
    2. You can remove a Voice remote by pairing another Voice remote (and forgetting the first one), but the last/only paired Voice remote cannot be removed even if an IR remote/remote mode is being used - this makes sense for Stick models (since there is no IR functionality), but not for non-Stick models (since there is IR functionality), but Roku probably decided on more consistent behavior across all models/devices.
    • Skai's avatar
      Skai
      Binge Watcher
      2 months ago

      You are obviously better informed than I am about the whole networking issue. I do know the difference between wired, wireless and Wifi. My wired internet is thru fiber optics that comes into the house to a router, on which the Wifi card is (totally) disabled. My computer doesn't even have a WiFi card in it but is wired via Ethernet. My six year old Vizio Smart TV is hard wired and the Wifi card is totally disabled. I only bought a new Roku TV because I wanted a larger TV for the family room. I live in the country and my house is totally free of any radiation because we don't use anything that transmits RFs. We have an old-fashioned house phone and a cell phone we carry in a Faraday bag when away from the house for emergencies. That's how serious I am about this.

      I am not saying that Roku TVs are "nefarious". It appears that most, if not all, TVs are trying to force you to use a wireless connection so they can collect data on your viewing habits. That is the only reason I can think of for them to not give you the option of using all of their smart features.

      • atc98092's avatar
        atc98092
        Community Streaming Expert
        2 months ago

        It appears that most, if not all, TVs are trying to force you to use a wireless connection so they can collect data on your viewing habits. 

        They don't need a wireless connection to do that. If you're connected to the Internet, any device could collect data and send it to their servers. So your wired devices are still capable of doing that. Stopping any wireless connection does nothing to stop that.

  • Skai's avatar
    Skai
    Binge Watcher
    2 months ago

    Thanks for your input. I don't use their voice remote, I got the "simple IR" remote to replace it. I also don't care about any of the Smart options. I only want to use the TV to watch shows with an antenna and access sites I regularly use like Amazon. I don't even plan on setting up a Roku account. I don't want or need all the functionality of a Smart TV. My house is wired with fiber optics and the internet is blazing fast over Ethernet. Unfortunately, Ethernet ports don't seem to be on dumb TVs, even if you can find them anymore. And any steaming device you add to a dumb TV just gives you the same problem as having the WiFi card on the TV itself.

    • atc98092's avatar
      atc98092
      Community Streaming Expert
      2 months ago

      I don't even plan on setting up a Roku account.

      Then don't buy any Roku device. You cannot complete setup without linking the device to a Roku user account.

      Unfortunately, Ethernet ports don't seem to be on dumb TVs,

      There's no reason for Internet connectivity on a "dumb" TV. You can't connect to Amazon (or any other streaming service) with a non-Smart TV. That functionality is what makes them "smart", so to speak.