How to Turn Off WiFi on Your Vizio

Jordan Read more February 20, 2020

Your Vizio TV is running and you want to turn off the Wi-Fi. Perhaps you’re sharing gaming or streaming services over different devices, or maybe you’re tired of your TV sucking up all your Internet coverage at home.

This article explains how to turn off the Wi-Fi on your Vizio TV. However, if you’re truly stuck, you could always turn off your Internet at the router, and then simply not re-sign in with your TV. But that’s more of a last-ditch effort rather than a first-choice option.

Factory Reset and Never Sign Into Wi-Fi Again

Vizio was fined $2.2 million to settle charges that they sold user information gathered by spying on user watching habits. If you’re worried about this, then Vizio says you can turn off its Smart Interactivity features, but by this point, that’s like a mugger giving you directions home.

If you’re super-worried about your information being sold, then the only way to be sure that your information is safe is to factory reset your TV. After that, never give it your Wi-Fi password again. If it can’t reconnect to the Internet, then it can never sell your information. A drastic, if effective way to turn off your Wi-Fi. Here’s how you do a factory reset:

Using your remote, push the “Menu” button.
Using your remote’s arrow buttons, you find the “System” function on the menu screen.
Find the “Reset & Admin” function.
Highlight and press the “Reset TV to Factory Defaults” function and press “OK.”
If it asks for a password, then enter the parental code.
If you didn’t set a parental control code, then enter the default, which is 0 0 0 0.
Highlight the “Reset” button and press “OK”.

That’s all you need to do to perform a factory reset. But, like we said, it is a bit of a drastic measure because it removes all the other information you’ve added. For example, if you’ve added your accounts and passwords to your streaming services, then they’ll be gone too. If you’re looking for a temporary way to turn off your Wi-Fi, then maybe just turn off your TV or your Internet router.

Turn Off Your Internet and Start a Power Cycle

Unplug your TV, and go and switch your Internet router off. Then, go back to your TV and hold the on/off button for five seconds. Next, plug your TV back in and switch it on. It will then ask you to enter your password.

At this point, you have two options. If your TV has a function for remembering the password, then enter the wrong password and tick the “Remember my password” box. If it doesn’t have a function for remembering the password, then simply don’t log in to your Internet on your TV again. You may now turn your router back on, and you should be okay so long as you don’t log back into the Internet on your TV.

Your TV Isn’t Connected to the Internet When It’s Off

At the time of writing, there’s no way to go into your TV settings and log off of the Internet. However, many Vizio TVs seem to log themselves off your Wi-Fi when you turn them off, so you may be over-thinking the whole problem. And, even if it doesn’t auto-disconnect, your TV isn’t using your Internet when you have your TV off (or even on standby).

Turning your TV off should do the trick in terms of stopping it from using the Internet. To make your TV forget its temporary memory, start a power cycle by holding the power button down. This should be all you need to do to make your TV break its Wi-Fi connection.

A power cycle isn’t the same as a factory reset. A power cycle removes the temporary memory such as where you were on a TV show you were watching, or the volume level you last had your TV set at. When you conduct a system reset or factory reset, your TV forgets everything, from your streaming service logins and new apps, to the passwords you entered for your Wi-Fi Internet.

Is There Another Way?

Before you rush to disconnect your Wi-Fi from your TV, ask yourself if there’s another way to solve the problem. What are your reasons for wanting to turn it off?

If you’re worried about security, then remember that your TV isn’t a highly vulnerable device. A TV isn’t a multi-media device like your phone, where you may do your banking, online shopping and so forth. A TV is more of a passive streaming device that holds very little sensitive information. By disabling the Internet, you’re pretty-much removing a large chunk of your TV’s usefulness. It would be like buying a car and removing the seats.

If you’re worried about your TV soaking up your Internet, then turning it off stops it from using your Internet. If you’re gaming and don’t want intrusive online gamers interfering, then you can turn off the social functions via the gaming system rather than turning off your Internet.

The Problem Is Usually the Reverse

Most people are online looking for ways to stop their Internet from cutting out, rather than looking for ways to log out. Ergo, if none of the solutions in this article has helped, then consider a TV repair company because it’s probably a software issue. But beware. If you’re downloading apps from third parties onto your TV, and they contain malware, it’s in their interest to keep your Internet running for things like crypto-mining scams.

What are your reasons for wanting to turn off your TV’s Internet? Have you found alternatives to turning it off? Let us know in the comments section below.