this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
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After reading about Pi-holes for a long time Roku finally pissed me off enough to set one up. The company has been adding advertisements to their menus for years but a few months ago they added a whole new row of ads to their home menu. Of course they can't be disabled. Enough was enough.
I set up Pi-hole on an existing Pi, monitored Roku traffic for a couple of days and blocked every single ad or "suggestion" they generate. Now the TV displays blanks instead of constant barrage of ads that Roku's menu has become. Worth the trouble.
Their decision to become an advertising platform instead of the streaming platform I purchased has been good reason to never subscribe to a streaming channel through Roku again. The company won't get a single dollar of revenue from me if I can help it. Yes, I know 3rd parties do pay Roku subscription fees, but I can't do anything about those. I also have repeatedly recommended Roku devices for years, but I now tell people to avoid the advertising company. Fuck em.
I'm in the same camp as you after this Roku TV bricking stuff. I was able to work around it by disconnecting it and banning it from my network and then factory resetting the TV and not configuring network...but I'm done with Roku.
I'll buy an Apple TV rather than a Roku Ultra if I have to...and I hate Apple.
I'm considering connecting up computers to my TVs and just streaming everything from a browser. It will be a little less convenient without a remote (at least initially), but way less annoying.
I used to do this before streaming services and it was not bad at all. At the time there was only one type of mini keyboard plus touchpad available, now there are a lot more options in that category.
It's a little less convenient, but like you can also do things you can't with no streaming box such as pirate live streams of channels from across the country for free.
Edit: you can also get usb-cec devices to make it so it switches inputs for you.