Blocking BT Connections to a Samsung TV - QN49Q60RAFXZA

[Tony_G]

Hey All,

I just bought a new Samsung TV and I can't for the life of me find out how to block random BT connections to it. Hopefully, someone here might have already solved this issue.

The situation is that someone in my neighborhood has a BT range extender (identifies as a Miccus Home RTX 2.0) so every few minutes it pops a dialog up in the upper-righthand corner asking if we'd like to connect to it. There appears to be no way to turn this off and the only suggestion I've seen is to go into the engineering menu and turn off BT completely. I haven't tried this as the same people saying you turn off BT also say that this will disable the TV remote.

I've tried looking at the device manager, input manager etc but it doesn't list this device name ever so I can't block it. It's getting to the point where I may even have to return the unit as it is really annoying.

Anyone have any ideas on how to address?

Thanks,

TonyG

[Psi]

Did you at one point accidentally select that BT device in the TV OSD menu? Even if you didn't pair to it you will have added it to the internal cache of BT devices.

Usually you don't get popups like that except for BT devices that you have (at some point previously) tried to connected to. 
The assumption being, if you have tried to connect previously then that is a BT device you must own.
So when the TV sees that device again, and it is advertising for pairing request, it assumes you are trying to pair a BT device you own to the TV.

My advice is to try doing a factory reset on the TV.
That should clear all the cached BT devices and start fresh.
If the TV has never connected to that neighborhood device it should ignore it entirely. Even if it's advertising a pairing request.

EDIT:
Even if you never tried to connect to that BT device i definitely recommend doing a factory reset.
For all you know the new TV you just bought was actually bought by your neighbor 3 weeks ago and then returned to the store. but not before they paired it to their BT device!!

[Tony_G]

Thanks - I'll give that a try - I don't believe that we connected to it at any point but you never know. The annoying thing is that if we did I would expect the device manager to list the device but it doesn't.

TonyG

[Psi]

If you still have the problem after a factory reset i would return the TV to the store and explain the issue (maybe make a video to show them).

Either get a replacement of the same type and hope it doesn't do the same thing, or get a different brand.
That is not normal behavior for a Smart TV.

[edpalmer42]

Is the firmware up to date?  I see a new version came out Feb. 3.

[tom66]

On the older Samsung TVs, the Bluetooth module was an internally separate part, mounted elsewhere in the case, presumably for RF performance.  I have disconnected it before without ill effect, the TV simply displayed an error when trying to scan for Bluetooth connections.

[SilverSolder]

Yet another reason to avoid "smart" TVs...

Give me dumb every day, and a cold beer.

[bitwelder]

If there is no decent s/w optionto disable BT, how about wrapping the BT antenna in tin foil? 

[Lord of nothing]

I would contact  Samsung if the not work I would send them in for a "repair".
If the not  get  fixed I would claim it for "death on  arrival".

[Deodand2014]

Yet another reason to avoid "smart" TVs...

Give me dumb every day, and a cold beer.

My mother is saying much the same thing, it takes too long to start up (Company logo + animated Android logo), somehow she's managed to delete the hdmi channels (It's a TCL S6800) and she's seriously talking about finding a 'dumb' TV to replace it.

[angrybird]

My experience with this at local restaurants is that on many TV's, the bluetooth functionality does not appear to be able to be disabled, and pairing attempts are always displayed on the screen.  This is how you say hello to your friends, set the name of your device to your message, and attempt to pair 

[MrMobodies]

I find that outrageous but I knew it was bound to happen one day.

https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/TV/Disable-Wireless-amp-Bluetooth/td-p/625115

t1ck3ts
‎08-08-2018 12:08 AM

TV Model #: UE55MU6015

I NEED to disable Wireless and Bluetooth access to my T.V, i dont use it, so there is no need for them to be running.
To make matters even worse, i have roughly 13-27 notifications of devices trying to connect to my T.V via Wireless and Bluetooth, on a daily bases, none of which, can be turned off in the menu's

DannyT Moderator
‎08-08-2018 12:11 PM 

Hi there, @t1ck3ts.

You'd have to talk to a engineer about that as the only way to do this, is to access a menu that is only for use by authorized engineers and if you were to do something wrong by accident, it could potentially void the warranty. We'd advise giving our colleagues a call on 0330 726 7864, who will be able to organise an engineer for you.

t1ck3ts
‎17-11-2018 12:07 PM 
@ncri wrote:
Did you ever figure this out? I have the same issue. Really annoying!

Got to phone in and get one of their techs to remote into your tv to dissable it. (They will need the code presented on the tv when enabling remote access)

Although i packed up the TV and returned it for a refund, was not going to put up with a TV that i have 0 control over.
Word of advice, dont bother with it and return the TV.

Will be doing my homework going forward for any new TV it seems, being locked out of an option that should be given to the user, is just plane stupid.

ncri Explorer
‎29-11-2018 06:44 PM 

Actually you need to enter the hidden service menu to disable wifi and bluetooth. You find instructions on how to open it on youtube for example. You need a universal remote and enter a key combination. Works perfectly. However, by disabling bluetooth i discovered that the normal samsung remote actually relies on it. Without bluetooth, most keys won't work anymore. I was only able to switch on and off the tv with bluetooth disabled. That is really bad, no idea why samsung did it this way, IR should be fine to handle everything. Using the universal remote I can still use all the functions though.

It looks like they had to buy other universal remotes as the Samsung remote uses bluetooth for some buttons.

[amyk]

It looks like they had to buy other universal remotes as the Samsung remote uses bluetooth for some buttons.

Whatever is "smart" about smart TVs, it's certainly not the designers...!

[MrMobodies]

It looks like they had to buy other universal remotes as the Samsung remote uses bluetooth for some buttons.

Whatever is "smart" about smart TVs, it's certainly not the designers...!

pauledd
pauledd Apprentice
‎19-03-2019 08:11 AM

Another vote here for a firmware update!

Dear Samsung Dev's,

I dont use wifi/bluetooth either. Huh Samsung unbelievable isn't it? There are users who dont use Network/Wireless on your tv's...

Please stop patronizing us (your consumers) by not implementing or hiding important options in your firmware.

Every Smartphone, PC, Notebook,Car gives the enduser the possibility to disable wireless devices... exept you!

I had 4 bluetooth authorization requests just this week on my NU8009, this is annoying! Do you think your endusers are that stupid and are not able to handle an option "disable wireless" / "disable bluetooth"? Is this some kind of "hide as much functionality as possible to the users because there are some very dull ones" guidline? Or is there another reason hiding it from us?

PS. And no, I dont want you to have send out an "engineer" to me, just do it in FW and you can save money

I can't stand it when they think they know their users better than themselves and I'd return it too.

[arrogance]Developers: It is the TV that is "smart" and "intelligent", we are above the TV and it is the end users down there who are somewhat stupid and confused, don't know what they are doing but that's okay they won't be phoning support for accidentally turning off their wifi or bluetooth for when they or their family/friends want to join their phones which is far more important than not being able to join your phones.

If you meddle with your "smart" TV it can no longer do it's job and be "smart" and protect you and think for you and function in accordance to how this product is intended to used so therefore you will void your product warranty by preventing it from working properly as intended.[/arrogance]

[SilverSolder]

Yet another reason to avoid "smart" TVs...

Give me dumb every day, and a cold beer.

My mother is saying much the same thing, it takes too long to start up (Company logo + animated Android logo), somehow she's managed to delete the hdmi channels (It's a TCL S6800) and she's seriously talking about finding a 'dumb' TV to replace it.

When you've grown up with equipment that starts more or less instantly when you throw the switch,  it can be hard to get used to slow startups from what you think of as an appliance.

My solution with the TV was to dump it completely around the millennium.     

20 years of saving $150 a month in cable subscriptions adds up to $55,199 (assuming 4% interest) 

[Lord of nothing]

Why not use Sat? I never pay for anything on Sat. Cable is crap. Lower resolution and crappy codeq. In the most European country you have to pay a TV tax and in some even when you have internet only.

[TerraHertz]

This is beautiful. I love seeing other people struggling with entirely predictable horrible consequences of 'smart' products. There's ALWAYS a combinatorial explosion of stupid, that's generally unacceptable. TVs and cars are two things that especially should not have any complex software or connectivity in them. Nothing that can decide to perform any spontaneous actions or reconfiguration on its own, anyway. Certainly nothing that can interact in any way with external wifi entities.

Oh and water heaters... my daughter was struggling with a psychotic water heater at her rental place for a while. It would randomly turn off and on during showers. Why was there a CPU and software in a water heater at all? Eventually the heater had to be replaced.

I have a simple rule, much like 'don't take up smoking cigarettes'. NO wifi, NO 'smart' anything, apart from actual computers that I want to interact with the www.  Even cell phones... there seem to be many advantages to using a very simple dumb cell phone.

Also, Samsung are evil. I won't bore you with justifying that statement, but I figured that out about 10 years ago. Related to buying a Samsung flash memory music player. It was gorgeously styled, but I'm never buying anything from Samsung ever again.

They very likely made the TV remote control dependent on BT, specifically so you have to leave BT enabled. Justifying absence of a BT disable option. Now why would they wish their TVs to always have BT enabled? I leave this as an exercise for the reader.

[ConKbot]

. Now why would they wish their TVs to always have BT enabled? I leave this as an exercise for the reader.

I wonder if they send the telemetry of which BT devices are nearby while whichever programming is on back to samsung HQ encrypted or in the clear.

[tszaboo]

This is beautiful. I love seeing other people struggling with entirely predictable horrible consequences of 'smart' products. There's ALWAYS a combinatorial explosion of stupid, that's generally unacceptable. TVs and cars are two things that especially should not have any complex software or connectivity in them. Nothing that can decide to perform any spontaneous actions or reconfiguration on its own, anyway. Certainly nothing that can interact in any way with external wifi entities.

Yeah, but this is a much cheaper way of doing planned obsolescence. The old way they had to size components to break after a while, now they just can push a button on the mothership and disable Youtube, make the software crash every now and then or make your device unusable in some other way.
Same with cars.
Mercedes recently soldered a regular lightbulb into the LED headlamp assembly of one of their cars. The damn thing would break after a few years, and since it is soldered, the entire assembly needed replacing. And since it had CAN connection, with serial number, there was no way to replace it with anything else, even one from the junkyard. Now with the GSM connection in the car, they can just trigger a route to the service whenever they feel like.
And the dumb sheep replaces their thing willingly, because the new and shiny has Android auto (barf) and bigger screen in the middle.

[angrybird]

. Now why would they wish their TVs to always have BT enabled? I leave this as an exercise for the reader.

I wonder if they send the telemetry of which BT devices are nearby while whichever programming is on back to samsung HQ encrypted or in the clear.

I believe someone already established this was happening with wifi devices, so BT would make sense, all smart phones/windows 10 PC's/MAC PC's/etc are doing this as well, so it would only make sense!