News Your washing machine could be sending 3.7 GB of data a day — LG washing machine owner disconnected his device from Wi-Fi after noticing excessive o...

[Admin]

An LG washing machine owner disconnected the appliance from Wi-Fi after noticing it ate 3.66GB of daily data. He took to Twitter / X to ask for help and advice.

Your washing machine could be sending 3.7 GB of data a day — LG washing machine owner disconnected his device from Wi-Fi after noticing excessive o... : Read more

 

[hotaru251]

This is just proof of why some devices should not be "smart" and stay dumb :|

 

[Neilbob]

Stuff like this really does make me feel like a complete dinosaur.

The very idea of a 'smart' appliance is just totally weird to me. I mean, you still have to be there to put the damn laundry in the machine... or does the washing machine climb on to some sort of feet and do it by itself? And I assume it must also supply itself with the relevant detergents and softeners too.

When it's finished does the door fly open and send the laundry shooting across the room into the dryer or on to a clothes line outside? Does it know when it's raining so as not to do that...?

So many questions clog my brain.

Edit: while I'm thinking about it, perhaps try switching it off or removing the plug from the mains when not in use or something. Can't imagine it needs 24 hours to perform a full cycle...

Edit Edit: or would doing something like that be considered too smart? (I'm really going off on one now).

 

[stonecarver]

The only smart thing I ever simi approved was the buzz when the microwave was done. I have now a few years back modded my microwave , took the top off found the evil buzzer and removed it. If I can't remember I warmed up my coffee than that's on me.

 

[BX4096]

This is just proof of why some devices should not be "smart" and stay dumb :|

Until that happens, their buyers seem more than happy to step in and fill that role.

 

[tazzmonster]

Stuff like this really does make me feel like a complete dinosaur.

The very idea of a 'smart' appliance is just totally weird to me. I mean, you still have to be there to put the damn laundry in the machine... or does the washing machine climb on to some sort of feet and do it by itself? And I assume it must also supply itself with the relevant detergents and softeners too.

When it's finished does the door fly open and send the laundry shooting across the room into the dryer or on to a clothes line outside? Does it know when it's raining so as not to do that...?

So many questions clog my brain.

Edit: while I'm thinking about it, perhaps try switching it off or removing the plug from the mains when not in use or something. Can't imagine it needs 24 hours to perform a full cycle...

Edit Edit: or would doing something like that be considered too smart? (I'm really going off on one now).

We have an LG smart washer/dryer. It's nice to get the notification when the washer or dryer is done on my phone since they are in a back room and not audible from the other living spaces. There are also a number of diagnostics that can be run on them from my phone as well.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

The LG washing machine owner saw the fun in his predicament and joked that the device might use Wi-Fi for “DLCs (Downloadable Laundry Cycles).”

I wouldn't even joke about that. With garbage like printer ink subscriptions I would not put it past LG, Samsung, and other "smart appliance" manufactures to start doing laundry or dishwasher detergent subscriptions, refrigerator filter subscriptions, and even prevent the use of "non approved" detergents the way HP does with their printers.

 

[evdjj3j]

Wouldn't a better less clickbaity title have been?

Asus router incorrectly reports the amount of data sent and received

 

[thestryker]

The thing that annoys me most about the smart appliances is that the vast majority of their good features don't actually need an internet connection just a local network connection, but that's not how they're designed and if you isolate them a lot of the time the features don't work.

 

[USAFRet]

The other problem with these IoT things is when their database gets hacked, and your personal info is leaked.

Along with trivially lax security in the apps. Default developer and admin passwords left in there, which you, the poor user, do not know nor can turn off.

The "S" in IoT stands for Security.

 

[PEnns]

"...self-confessed fintech geek"

In other words, a technical rube connects his washing machine (!!) to the internet and now wonders about the strange things that are going on.

Asus router's fault or not, why should a washing machine be connected to the internet and how did people wash their undies the last few hundred years without such craziness and survive the non-connected consequences???

How did people solve the amazing conundrum like when the machine was done / needed detergent and other rocket science issues before??

 

[USAFRet]

"...self-confessed fintech geek"

In other words, a technical rube connects his washing machine (!!) to the internet and now wonders about the strange things that are going on.

Asus router's fault or not, why should a washing machine be connect to the internet and how did people wash their undies the last few hundred years with such craziness and survive the non-connected consequences???

How did people solve the amazing conundrum like when the machine was done / needed detergent and other rocket science issues before??

Current devices have that connectivity as a feature.

Ping your phone when it is done, and all that.

Some people want that.

 

[General_Cool]

Go back to the 1700s and tell a homemaker that, in the future, she would have a machine that cleans the laundry so that she doesn't have to. She would laugh at you and say you're a mad scientist. Now tell her that machine would contact somebody on the other side of the world and tell them what kind of laundry you're doing and how often you do it, and that person on the other side of the world knows more about your laundry habits than you do. You would be hung in the town square the next day.

I'm getting to the point where I'm gonna go back to a "dumbphone" and toss out every electronic device I own. There is no reason this level of surveillance and information harvesting is necessary.

 

[Sippincider]

why should a washing machine be connect to the internet and how did people wash their undies the last few hundred years with such craziness and survive the non-connected consequences???

Grandparents had a washer with a mechanical cycle timer/control, and the machine literally never wore out.

Compare to current "smart" appliances pouring tons of data to who knows where, and MAYBE lasting two years. We've improved how?

 

[nitrium]

99% of Smart Appliances are nothing but "a solution in search of a problem."

 

[USAFRet]

I'm getting to the point where I'm gonna go back to a "dumbphone" and toss out every electronic device I own. There is no reason this level of surveillance and information harvesting is necessary.

To include the device you're using for this conversation?

 

[GoofyOne]

Smart Laundry Machine ... M.O.M. ??

Reminds me of the old adage ... KISS 'Keep It Simple, Stupid' I'm happy with my dumb laundry machine.


{GoofyOne's 2c worth, which may or may not be actually worth 2c}

 

[General_Cool]

To include the device you're using for this conversation?

In an ideal world, yes. Unfortunately, its getting harder and harder in the current world to go tech free. Almost nothing is done with pen and paper anymore. Many companies only do online billing. Only way to be tech free these days is move to the middle of nowhere. Good thing I'm planning on it.

 

[USAFRet]

The problem is....

Those of us in here are avoiding these IoT things. Some of us, anyway.

The masses out there are gobbling them up.

 

[not flashy]

Complete and utter click-bait. Tom's hardware used to be fact driven.

The router stats were wrong.

 

[kep55]

From our first washer dryer set back in 1979 thru our current LG boxes, we've never had a need or desire to have them connected to anything more than the electric socket. Until recently, a quick call to the service department got me the parts I needed to repair the boxes. Now, if something goes fritz, it's easier and often cheaper to buy a new unit. Our LG fridge also has wi-fi capability but there's no way I need or desire to connect it to any network.

 

[Sleepy_Hollowed]

Every device could use a standard API (send only) for notifications for things like when the laundry is over, and it should be massively optional and easy to turn off.

But then they'd have to compete on things like reliability and durability, and that does not make them money on their planned obsolescence crap of DRM (not saying LG, just in general).

I'd pay significantly more for a dumb appliance that has easily and generically replaceable parts.

 

[Dr3ams]

Skynet, Ultron or rogue washer AI...whatever it is...it's propagating. 👀

...run

 

[palladin9479]

The other problem with these IoT things is when their database gets hacked, and your personal info is leaked.

Along with trivially lax security in the apps. Default developer and admin passwords left in there, which you, the poor user, do not know nor can turn off.

The "S" in IoT stands for Security.

This is so true. Developers generally do not care about security, they only care about getting their shiny new thing across the finish line into production. I've seen absolutely bonkers stuff like someone hard coding the encryption key to "password" inside the application source code. That was how they hoped to passed the security review for their application by claiming it encrypted everything.

 

[USAFRet]

This is so true. Developers generally do not care about security, they only care about getting their shiny new thing across the finish line into production. I've seen absolutely bonkers stuff like someone hard coding the encryption key to "password" inside the application source code. That was how they hoped to passed the security review for their application by claiming it encrypted everything.

Even worse, grabbing a prebuilt library or framework, that does all that connectivity crap.
With no investigation into exactly what it is doing.

"We can utilize the well known bla bla framework, and thus can reduce development time by 60%!"