US Govt Bans Most Routers

Late last year the company TP-Link, a popular maker of networking equipment, was in the crosshairs of government regulators for alleged ties to the Chinese government. In March, the US government upped the ante by banning “all consumer-grade routers produced in foreign countries.” This action is so broad that it effectively prohibits the sale of all new router models. (The only router actually made in America is Starlink, but it’s assembled from foreign-made components.) The justification is that other governments might be able to influence manufacturers to plant backdoors or other vulnerabilities in devices that are nearly ubiquitous in American households. Makers of these consumer-grade routers are applying for a waiver called “Conditional Approval”, which requires that they provide extensive details on their corporate structure and manufacturing process. To date, only three companies have this approval: Netgear, Eero, and Adtran. It’s unclear how many more will be added to the exception list, but what is clear is that the US government is taking unprecedented steps to control the security of consumer electronics.