I never use the smart functions of any TV I use an Apple TV instead much nicer
Could also use a Roku
I know this thread is old now, but exactly this. I’ve got a 65 inch tcl TV in my living room. First 65 inch I’d bought, tried to buy any other other brand through Walmart but this was the only one the store had in stock at the time during the shortages. This tv is ok but I’d prefer it were a vizio etc. I digress.
Anyway this TV is a roku TV. However I actually connected it initially, but later factory reset the TV. I now have it set to go to hdmi 1 when it starts up, in hdmi 1 is believe it or not a roku stick, which came with the voice remote that can also control the TV power and volume. I even have the TV plugged into a Sony sound bar, so essentially the only function my TV does is provide a picture. It works well enough but sometimes I have to unplug this TV from the wall and back out if the picture goes out then it’s ok. But the TV isn’t connected to internet at all. Same thing for my vizio downstairs, it’s connected only to a cheap sound bar by optical cable, a roku, an Xbox and soon my pc, no internet.
A good friend of mine has a roku TV that he started having issues with, he was using it with the built in roku software, and the TV was acting up to the point he was about to buy a new TV. Ended up I helped him reset his TV and hook it up to a dedicated roku the same way I have my TV hooked up, and after a year or so he’s still using the TV and last I heard the TV isn’t locking up etc the way it was.
If the op still has the lg, maybe change the remote, but I’d recommend to route to an Apple TV, roku or fire stick and disconnect the lg from internet.
The tv in my basement is a vizio and it does not get connected to internet. From what I’ve read, vizio has been known to push firmware updates that can sometimes break things on their TVs. Things work for me so no internet for my TV unless there’s a specific issue I’m trying to fix. As my dad always says if it’s not broke don’t fix it. Not that they are intentionally breaking TVs, but being realistic, if your business model is selling new TVs and electronics, what incentive do they have to keep hardware running outside the warranty? After all if you buy another new TV then that is another possible sale for them.