Any way to connect it to an internal network so I can still cast from local devices? Otherwise it’s just going to exist plugged into a laptop.
Something like a chromecast would be the easiest solution.
Me personally, I just like having a media pc hooked up to my tv. I bought an amazon fire tv cause it was fairly cheap for 4k and its never been hooked up to the internet.
It is a problem, my shield tv started having ads on the home page, but I was able to install a new launcher on it to fix that.
Overall having a media player plugged in to a disconnected tv is the way to go. It is easier to replace a chromecast than the whole tv.