Officials have announced sweeping new restrictions on foreign-made Wi-Fi routers in the US, citing growing national security concerns tied to the devices.
The move represents a major shake-up for the US Wi-Fi router market, where nearly every router sold nationwide is at least partially built overseas, including popular models from TP-Link, Asus and Netgear.
Issuing the alert on Monday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated its ‘covered list,’ a registry of communications equipment and services deemed to pose potential risks to American networks.
The FCC said the move is intended to prevent foreign adversaries, including China and Russia, from accessing equipment used in the homes and offices of millions of Americans.
Foreign-made devices currently on store shelves can still be purchased, and routers already installed in homes remain fully usable, but future imports of restricted equipment will face tighter controls.
However, because scaling up production of fully US-made routers is expected to take time, internet service providers (ISPs) could face challenges supplying equipment to new customers.
Consumers planning to switch providers may want to confirm that their current router is compatible or verify that a replacement device will be available without delays.
According to an FCC FAQ, a router is classified as foreign-made if any key step in its production, including manufacturing, assembly, design or development, takes place outside the US.
The move represents a major shake-up for the US Wi-Fi router market, where nearly every router sold nationwide is at least partially built overseas, including popular models from TP-Link, Asus and Netgear (STOCK)
Despite the FCC banning the import of new foreign-made routers, officials stressed that there is no immediate threat to devices already in use.
However, the move targets a global supply chain long dominated by manufacturers in China, Taiwan and Vietnam, with China historically supplying about 60 percent of consumer-grade routers sold in the United States.
Brendan Carr, chairman of the FCC, said alongside the announcement: ‘I welcome this Executive Branch national security determination, and I am pleased that the FCC has now added foreign-produced routers, which were found to pose an unacceptable national security risk, to the FCC’s Covered List.’
The action followed the FCC receiving a National Security Determination warning of the risks posed by routers manufactured abroad, noting that cyberattacks by foreign adversaries are increasing.
‘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,’ the determination stated.
‘From disrupting network connectivity to enabling local networking espionage and intellectual property theft, foreign-produced routers present unacceptable risks to Americans.’
The memo added that several of these attacks were linked to hacking groups associated with China and Russia.
‘Routers in the US 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 determination stated.
Elon Musk’s Starlink remains an outlier among telecommunications companies, as it is one of the few major providers that has not fully outsourced router manufacturing overseas.
However, many of the components used in its devices are still produced outside the US.
The decision follows several cyberattacks over the past two years targeting US infrastructure, which officials attributed to hackers linked to China and Russia.
In some cases, investigators found that routers used in Cisco systems had been targeted for infiltration.
These included models such as the RV340W, RV340, RV345 and RV345P, which are commonly used in homes and small businesses and were manufactured overseas.
In addition to the new router restrictions, the FCC’s Covered List also includes uncrewed aircraft systems produced abroad, anti-virus software developed by Kaspersky Labs, and telecommunications services provided by China Unicom, Pacific Networks Corporation, and China Mobile International.
Surveillance equipment produced by Dahua Technology, Hytera Communications, ZTE Corporation, and Huawei Technologies also appears on the Covered List.
Some routers and networking equipment from these companies, including products such as China Unicom’s 5G CPE VN007, have remained on the list for years despite partnerships with US-based firms.
