In March, the Federal Communications Commission banned new consumer internet routers manufactured outside the US, citing national security concerns. The ban doesn’t affect any routers already in American homes or currently on sale in the US, but all new routers aimed at the consumer market will need to be approved. That has inevitably included some of the best new routers to come out in the past six months.
\n\nWhile the headline is that foreign-made consumer routers are banned, manufacturers can apply for exemptions, and some have been approved. There's no need to throw out your router, and you'll still find plenty of mesh systems on the store shelves. But what does this mean for you?
\n\nUpdated September 2026: I added the news that Conditional Approval has been granted to several more companies, the biggest being Asus.
\n\n“Malicious actors have exploited security gaps in foreign-made routers to attack American households, disrupt networks, enable espionage, and facilitate intellectual property theft,” the FCC wrote. “Foreign-made routers were also involved in the Volt, Flax, and Salt Typhoon cyberattacks targeting vital US infrastructure.”
\n\nForeign-made consumer routers were added to the Covered List, which details equipment and services “deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to the…
Original source: https://www.wired.com/