I don't deny it, but I don't see ads.

There's a single ad on the home page for me.

So put it on a VLAN with no egress. Smart TVs are annoying but there’s ways around it.

Kinda hard to stream if you don't allow egress.

Won't it need the egress to receive streaming video from the internet?

Sorry, you’re right. I was thinking of the TV itself. Yes for a box it’s a little more complicated. Personally I go with Apple TV. Much more polished UI than a Roku and certainly no being bombarded with ads.

Roku has a lot more features. Plus the remote on the Apple TV annoys me. Give me real buttons any day!

NextDNS has been working great to block Roku BS for me

The Apple TV remote has real button. You don’t have to use that remote either.

I like the headphone jack on Roku and it works with Airplay. I prefer the Apple TV though for overall polish and integration.