The US government just banned consumer routers made outside the US

Nomen Nescio <[email protected]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:22:06 +0100 (CET)
Newsgroups alt.comp.networking.routers, alt.survival, comp.os.linux.networking, sac.politics, talk.politics.guns
Organization dizum.com - The Internet Problem Provider
Message-ID <[email protected]>
In December, the Federal Communications Commission banned all future 
drones made in foreign countries from being imported into the United 
States, unless or until their maker gets an exemption. Now, the FCC has 
done the exact same for consumer networking gear, citing “an unacceptable 
risk to the national security of the United States and to the safety and 
security of U.S. persons.”

If you already have a Wi-Fi or wired router, you can keep on using it — 
and companies that have already gotten FCC radio authorization for a 
specific foreign-made product can continue to import that product.

But since the vast majority — if not all — consumer routers are 
manufactured outside the United States, the vast majority of future 
consumer routers are now banned. By adding all foreign-made consumer 
routers to its Covered List, the FCC is saying it will no longer authorize 
their radios, which de facto bans new devices from import into the 
country.

Now, router makers need to A) secure a “conditional approval” that lets 
them keep getting new products cleared for US entry while they work to 
convince the government that they’ll open up manufacturing in the US, or 
B) make the decision to skip selling future products in the US, like 
dronemaker DJI already did.

Like with the foreign drone ban, the FCC has a National Security 
Determination that it says justifies these actions, one which claims that 
“Allowing routers produced abroad to dominate the U.S.

https://www.theverge.com/news/899172/fcc-foreign-router-ban