Last year more and more Smart TVs started with showing Ads in or above the menu bar. Popular brands, like Samsung, LG, and Sony are doing this, no matter if you buy a high-end model or a more affordable one. You can’t disable the ads in your TV self most of the time, but there are other easy ways to block the ads.
In this article, I will walk you through some of the easiest methods to get rid of these ads on your Smart TV. All methods are based on blocking the servers (domains) that the TVs are using the get the ads from.
If you have any questions or suggestions, just drop a comment below.
Domains to block
So before I explain the different methods to block the ads on your Smart TV, first the list of domains that we are going to block for each TV brand. I will refer back to this list in the different methods below.
For some brands, it’s enough to block a couple of domains, so I added a minimal list and the extended version in case you are still seeing ads with the minimal list.
Samsung Smart TV
For a Samsung TV you need to block the following domains:
samsungads.comevents.samsungads.comconfig.samsungads.comstatic.doubleclick.nettvx.adgrx.com samsungotn.netsamsungrm.netsamsung.net/ads
Additionally you can also block the following domains for Samsung:
gpm.samsungqbe.comlog-config.samsungacr.comsamsungacr.comsamsungcloudsolution.comsamsungcloudsolution.net
LG TVs
To remove the ads on your LG TV you will need to block the following domains:
ngfts.lge.comus.ad.lgsmartad.comus.info.lgsmartad.comlgad.cjpowercast.comedgesuite.net#Additional domains:ad.lgappstv.comsmartclip.comsmartclip.netsmartshare.lgtvsdp.comus.ibs.lgappstv.comus.lgtvsdp.comus.rdx2.lgtvsdp.comyumenetworks.comaic-ngfts.lge.com
Roku TVs
To block the ads on a Roku Smart TV:
cooper.logs.roku.comtrack.sr.roku.comp.ads.roku.combif.sr.roku.comtraces.sr.roku.comcloudservices.roku.comscribe.logs.roku.comamarillo.sb.roku.com
Method 1 – Blocking the Domains in your Router
To show the ads your Smart TV will make contact with a couple of websites. These websites are used to serve the ads to you. By blocking these websites (domains) in your router, the TV can’t download the ads.
1. Login to your router
So first we need to login to our router. I have listed the common IP Address and default logins of the router below. If your router isn’t listed here, then check this article for more information about accessing your router.
| Brand | Ip Address | Username | Password |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asus | 192.168.50.1 | admin | admin |
| AT&T U-Verse | 192.168.1.254 | admin | (see sticker) |
| Belkin | 192.168.2.1 | admin | admin |
| Comcast | 10.0.0.1 | admin | password |
| D-Link | 192.168.0.1 | admin | (none) |
| Netgear | 192.168.0.1 | admin | password |
| Linksys | 192.168.1.1 | admin | admin |
If your router still has the default login, then this is also a good moment to change it to a secure password. If you want to know more about securing your home network, make sure you read this article.
2. Find the settings page
We need to find the correct settings page where we can filter URL’s or block content. This will be different for pretty much every router. But look for a page named “Security”, “Firewall”, or “Parental controls”.
If have listed a couple of options below:
| Brand | Page |
|---|---|
| Asus | Advanced Settings > Firewall > URL Filter tab |
| AT&T U-Verse | Parental Controls > (select device you want to limit) |
| Belkin | Parental Controls > Website Filters |
| Comcast | Parental Controls > Managed Sites |
| D-link | Features or Advanced > Website Filter |
| Netgear | Advanced > Security > Block Sites |
| Linksys | Parental Controls |
If your router doesn’t have an option to block websites, then just scroll down to Method 2. We still need access to your router, so leave your router page open.
3. Block the domains
If you have found the correct page in your router we can start with blocking the websites so ads won’t show up anymore on the Smart TV.
Add each domain for your Smart TV in the block/website filtering list in your router and save the settings. The ads should now be gone on your Smart TV.
Method 2 – Block on DNS level with OpenDNS
If you can’t block the domains in your router, then there is another option as well. When you visit a website the domainname is converted to an IP Address. DNS servers to this conversion. By default you are using the DNS server from your ISP.
But there are more, and better DNS servers that you can use, OpenDNS is one of those DNS providers. The DNS server from OpenDNS is not only faster, but they also allow you to secure your network by blocking malicious websites by default.
We can also use OpenDNS to block the ads from our Smart TV.
1. Create an OpenDNS account
To get start first create a free account at OpenDNS.com.
After you have created the account, click on login in the top right corner.
2. Setup OpenDNS
We need to add our network to OpenDNS. Click on Add Network on the dashboard and again on Add this network on the settings page. You can leave the IP Address as it is in OpenDNS.
After you have added your network we can block the domain in OpenDNS. On the Settings > Web Content Filtering page you can add the domain names. Make sure Always block is selected and add each domain name to it.
3. Changing the DNS settings in your Router
To use OpenDNS in your network you will need to change the DNS servers in your router. Login to your router (see Method 1 for details) and go to the network settings page.
Add the DNS servers from OpenDNS in your router: 208.67.222.222and208.67.220.220.
You can also change the DNS servers from your TV alone, but you will have to look in your TV settings under Network Status for the correct settings page.
Block ads on Roku TV
The ads on a Roku TV can also be disabled in the settings menu. There is one downside to it, it also disables the more ways to watch feature.
Go to Settings > Privacy and look for the option Use information From TV Inputs. Turn the option off to disable the ads.
Block ads on Amazon Fire Stick
To block ads on an Amazon Fire Stick you can use an app.
- Open the Downloader app
- Go to Blokada.org
- Install the latest version
- And you are done.
Block ads on Sony and Android TV
So for Sony TVs we are going to follow a different approach.
- Open the Settings & Apps screen
- Look for Android TV Core Services
- Roll back all the updates, ignore the warning
- Go back to the home screen
- Remove the Sponsored Channel – Click far left and use the minus button
- Go back to Settings & Apps
- Look for Android TV Core Services
- Force Stop it and disable it completely.
Wrapping up
I hope this article helped you with removing the ads from your Smart TV. If you have any questions, or suggestions just drop a comment below.
While you here, you may also like to take a look at the following articles:
- Securing you home network
- Best home network setup
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