FCC Prohibits New Approval of Foreign-Made Consumer Routers | Hacker News Reader

FCC Prohibits New Approval of Foreign-Made Consumer Routers

docs.fcc.gov

22 pointsaw-engineer18 comments

So on the one hand, this is an absurd ban; on the other hand, whenever this corrupt USA government does anything this absurd, it usually signals the start of the kleptocrat activities.

So, whose going to come rescuse us with the CLEARLY superior technology that ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT implement the very thing the FCC is trying to protect the SMALL american from?

What makes this ban absurd?

The United States has many close allies who manufacture routers. Seeing as how we already share intelligence and military technology, banning their routers seems... inconsistent.

The part that will make it absurd is going to come when Trump suddenly greenlights some made-in-China routers because the CEO responsible made a "donation" to a "charity." Probably the presidential library.

It is concerning that given the evidence there are still people that wait for Trump’s actions to (a) make sense and/or (b) help people.

Practically all routers are made overseas. So unless new factories get built ASAP the U.S. is all but guaranteed to have a router shortage and a thriving grey/black market

That's missing the aspect where exceptions to the ban can be granted by the DoD or DHS, so in practice the outcome will be that effectively all routers need to appease the national security apparatus before getting FCC approval.

Right, hence the toplevel commenter's bit about "it usually signals the start of the kleptocrat activities."

Or 'appease' the palms of a few politicians.

What's the US-made router that could replace foreign-made routers? Honest question

Dupe of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47495344 possibly others

All this means is that you can't buy the electronics in a single plastic box. A router is just a small pc with wifi and ethernet. You can buy and build your own WiFi AP and make a router. It's so trivial even a caveman could do it.

You think far too highly of cavemen

Are there any consumer-grade (or any grade) routers produced in the US?

Great question.

As a data point, Purism has worked on USA supply chain for their cell phone (Librem 5), and currently ships with mixed-origin parts. "We use US companies with US fabrication whenever possible. Most distributors are based in the US with the exception of large integrated circuits that are made in a variety of countries where those companies do fabrication (US, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan); an example is the NXP CPU we use from their fabrication in South Korea." <https://puri.sm/products/librem-5-usa/#table-of-origin>

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2026—Today, the Federal Communications Commission updated its Covered List to include all consumer-grade routers produced in foreign countries. Routers are the boxes in every home that connect computers, phones, and smart devices to the internet. This followed a determination by a White House-convened Executive Branch interagency body with appropriate national security expertise that such routers “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons.”

Wonder which companies will present gold-plated routers to Trump in order to get around this.

So no Deciso opnsense routers more secure than garbage ISP-rented boxes. So stupid. How about making a certification standard rather than some brain-dead xenophobic expression of stupidity?

minipc + wifi adapter = router

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