I put my smart TV setup behind a router-based VPN and never looked back - here's why

Home & Office Home Home & Office Home Entertainment TVs I put my smart TV setup behind a router-based VPN and never looked back - here's why Installing a VPN on your smart TV blocks hackers from accessing your network and stealing your data. But there are benefits to the content, too. Written by Taylor Clemons, Staff Writer Staff Writer May 31, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. PT Adam Breeden/ZDNET Follow ZDNET:  Add us as a preferred source  on Google. As a tech journalist, I am surprisingly hardline about limiting the number of smart and internet-enabled devices in my home. Mostly because I firmly believe that no one should be able to post to social media from their refrigerator , and an oven does not need to integrate Alexa for me to bake a cake. But another big reason I'm cautious is that the more smart devices you have connected to your network, the easier it is for hackers to access your data. It's a big security risk that's more prevalent than you'd think. Also: The best VPNs for streaming While many new smart TVs and internet-enabled appliances offer some level of data protection, whether through a dedicated chipset or integrated malware detection, these measures are at best weak and at worst outright ineffective. Thankfully, if you already subscribe to a VPN or are considering one, adding protection to your smart TV is fast and simple. Why should you use a VPN on your TV A VPN will encrypt your streaming, web browsing, and download data from end-to-end. This means that unless they have very sophisticated software and eternal patience, a hacker will have a very difficult time accessing your activity and personal data.  Even if your TV has built-in cyber protection hardware or software, a VPN can help close any potential gaps that bad actors may exploit. This is especially the case if you've got ACR turned on, as a VPN proactively masks your TV's real IP address and encrypts its traffic. The same behavior happens wit