Your wireless router is now banned from sale in the US

Almost every wireless router used in US homes is now banned from sale within the country under a new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling.

The FCC says that all routers made outside the US “pose unacceptable risks to the national
security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons” …

At the end of last year, the FCC banned the importation and sale of foreign-made drones, citing national security concerns. It reclassified them from consumer devices to “tools for surveillance and intelligence collection, platforms capable of delivering payloads, and dual-use technologies with military and paramilitary potential.”

The agency yesterday used similar arguments to ban the importation and sale of all foreign-made internet routers.

The Executive Branch determination noted that foreign-produced routers (1) introduce “a supply chain vulnerability that could disrupt the U.S. economy, critical infrastructure, and national defense” and (2) pose “a severe cybersecurity risk that could be leveraged to immediately and severely disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure and directly harm U.S. persons.”

It follows a revelation last year that thousands of Asus routers had been compromised by a botnet with devices from Cisco, D-Link and Linksys also targeted.

A huge deal

This is a huge deal because almost every wireless router used in US homes was made outside the US. This includes the routers supplied as standard by internet service providers as well as models people have bought to get better features.

It means that ISPs will have to switch to US models, and most routers currently sold to consumers will have to be withdrawn from sale.

The ban is so extensive because of the way a foreign-made router is defined in the ruling.

The National Security Determination states that “Production generally includes any major stage of the process through which the device is made, including manufacturing, assembly, design, and development.”

In theory, router makers can apply for an exemption by proving that their devices are safe. In practice, it seems exceedingly unlikely that this could be achieved.

What it means for you

It’s important to stress that the ban applies to the importation and sale rather than the use of foreign-made routers. Even if your router is now banned from sale in the US, you can continue to use it.

However, since it will take a significant amount of time to scale up production of entirely US-made routers, ISPs are likely to face severe challenges in providing them to new customers. If you’re considering switching service provider, you may want to ensure that your existing router is compatible or obtain assurances that they will be able to provide a new one without delay.

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