TV can't access Samsung servers

[admunro]

Model: Samsung QLED Q75Q60R

My TV has suddenly lost its ability to contact Samsung's servers. The problem began on Friday evening when I was unable to search for new apps, I got a message like "The server is down for maintenance, please try again later".

Now it's Sunday and I got the same problem again, so assuming this is an issue on Samsung's end I did a factory reset of the TV. Now I'm unable to complete the setup process, since when I get to the screen where I have to accept the terms and conditions, the TV says it's unable to download them. So now I have a completely dumb TV. I'm also unable to set up the TV via the Smart Things app, when it shows ''TV is being registered to your Samsung account" the app gets to 99% then just stays there for several minutes before giving up with a "something went wrong" message.

My internet connection is working absolutely fine, the router is right next to the TV with an excellent signal and I've tried the usual suggestions of unplugging everything and waiting for several minutes. The TV is German and I'm using it in Germany.

So, have Samsung's servers really been down since Friday evening? Or is my TV suddenly defective?

[admunro]

Monday afternoon, same status.

[Loutjie]

I am having the exact same issue with a TV I bought on Sunday. Was thinking it is a defective unit, but seeing as others are seeing the same issue, I suspect the error lies elsewhere, especially since yours worked before this.

[Loutjie]

This was being caused by a DNS level ad blocker, which was blocking the Samsung servers. A bit worrying that Samsung's servers are flagged as spam / ad servers.

[admunro]

Thanks for the tip, all seems to be working again. I do use a Raspberry Pi as a DNS-level ad blocker, but I'm pretty sure I turned it off as part of my troubleshooting.

Can I ask how you found out this was the issue?