In an announcement today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has banned the import of Wi-Fi routers made outside of the United States, but with a pretty big exception.
Citing an “unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and to the safety and security of U.S. persons,” the FCC has banned foreign-made routers, both those which are used for Wi-Fi and those used to manage wired connections.
The FCC explains its stance, stating:
Recently, malicious state and non-state sponsored cyber attackers have increasingly leveraged the vulnerabilities in small and home office routers produced abroad to carry out direct attacks against American civilians in their homes. From disrupting network connectivity to enabling local networking espionage and intellectual property theft, foreign-produced routers present unacceptable risks to Americans. Additionally, routers produced abroad were directly implicated in the Volt, Flax, and Salt Typhoon cyberattacks which targeted critical American communications, energy, transportation, and water infrastructure. Routers in the United States must have trusted supply chains so we are not providing foreign actors with a built-in backdoor to American homes, businesses, critical infrastructure, and emergency services.
The potential impact here could be major, as trying to find a Wi-Fi router both designed and manufactured in the US is a tall order. Most popular brands, such as the dominant TP-Link, are made in China, with even Google’s Nest Wifi series being manufactured overseas.
Reuters points out that around 60% of home routers in the US are estimated to be made by Chinese companies.
The good news here is that this ban does not impact the Wi-Fi router already in your home. It also doesn’t apply to existing routers that have FCC radio authorization, The Verge notes. A similar ban on foreign drones has a growing list of exemptions, our sister site DroneDJ points out. Updates for these devices won’t last forever, though, with the current rules going through just March 1, 2027 (via Engadget).
So while new models can’t be released, specific products already on the market can continue to be imported. For future new releases, router brands can secure “conditional approval,” or simply stop selling those products in the US.
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