Guides
Appliances
Do you have to connect your dishwasher, washer or oven to Wi-Fi?
Usually not, for the cycles you start from the control panel: Bosch says its dishwashers can be used without an internet connection, and a 2017 Whirlpool service guide says its connected appliances are designed to work when not connected. Some models keep a few cycles or cooking modes in the app, such as the Air Fry and Precision Cooking modes GE lists for some GE Profile and Café ranges and wall ovens, so check the spec sheet for a Connectivity row before you buy.
TVs
How to use a smart TV without the internet or an account
Usually, yes. On most smart TVs we checked, you can skip the internet and the account and still watch an antenna, cable or anything plugged in by HDMI; Google, Roku, Samsung, LG and Amazon document this. Roku-branded TVs have to go online once to finish setup, Amazon-made Fire TVs don't offer the Basic experience, so they need an Amazon account, and without the internet you generally lose the apps, voice search and casting.
Can you still buy a TV that isn't smart?
TVs sold as "non-smart" or "dumb" are still around, mostly small or budget sets, but we haven't yet confirmed whether any of them can be set up and used without an account. As of Oct 25, 2026, App Free Home lists four TVs and says what we know and haven't confirmed about each: three 24- and 32-inch Westinghouse HD sets, which Westinghouse labels "Basic TV" but links to a Roku TV guide that says you need a Roku account to stream, and a 55-inch GPX whose specs come from retailer listings, and we didn't find a non-smart model in Samsung's, LG's, Sony's, TCL's or Vizio's current US consumer range. For a bigger screen, the practical routes are a computer monitor with a tuner or streaming box, or a smart TV you never connect.