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This is just their way of saying they want state sponsored backdoors into all private home networks.
Or, guess what, the next thing will be that all new domestically produced routers will require ID verification before they'll connect.
every 6 hours.
With screenshots of your systems sent and analyzed by ai
They don't want to, they already have it and just don't want people to be able to avoid it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_Law_Enforcement_Act
requiring that telecommunications carriers and manufacturers of telecommunications equipment modify and design their equipment, facilities, and services to ensure that they have built-in capabilities for targeted surveillance
… does America even manufacture routers?
We don't lol
Electronics manufacture of any kind has been heavily outsourced since at least 1995.
That only means we're going to take over a country that makes routers.
Greenfield makes routers right? Or is it Iceland? My hands are Huuuuuge!
China? Yeah fat chace
Time to dust off the old US Robotics 14.4k sportster.
If foreign made routers pose a severe cybersecurity risk then why would you let the current ones on the market stay? If they were truly a problem you'd remove them from the market, not grandfather them.
But like everything with this capricious administration the real reason they're doing this is probably because someone greased their palms.
Honestly it feels like they get their Intel from memes.
Conditional approvals - it's a bribe scheme. Companies can ask for exceptions. Sure they wouldn't Grease any palms...
WHAT
I am really fucking glad I recently bought a high-end router, holy shit
FUUUUUUUUCK
Awesome. So what used to be a $50 router is about to be a $150 router. Great.
And it’s going to suck BALLS
$150 will get you a mini PC that you can run OPNsense on. Hopefully they don't ban WiFi access points next.
there is not much wifi access points that are not routers at the same time and i doubt that said regulation would make such a minor a distinction.
also keep in mind that the news articles are specifically talking about tp-link products.
unfortunately we can only guess, because only official document i have found is as vague as the news reports.
https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist
Routers^ produced in a foreign country, except routers which have been granted a Conditional Approval by DoW or DHS.
There are many access points that are not routers.
There are. Just need to shop in the business side of the store and not consumer. At worst pro-sumer.
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Access points and routers are usually separate once you get away from the consumer grade stuff. The people that run OPNsense at home often use MikroTik or Ubiquiti access points.
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Outsourcing of manufactoring work is forbidden now? LOL
IMHO it is yet another scheme to make poor people pay more to rich people. And yet again nobody resists it.
It's that, and also an invitation to bribery, and also a demand for surveillance backdoors. And your router may need your biometric data to protect the children (but not from billionaire pedophiles).
Force consumers into US made, AI-laden, crappy hardware full of backdoors for the regime.
Isn't Mikrotik commonly used for servers? Or is that just Europe?
Anecdotally, I haven't run into a single Mikrotik deployment since university.
First routers, then foreign operating systems, then cars…
Next up, foreign VPNs and shortwave radios are illegal to use.
Then phone calls are restricted.
Then international mail has to be inspected and censored.
All hail Chairman Trump!
USA USA 👊🇺🇸🔥
https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2026/PSA260312
Compromised devices already comprise what amounts to a foothold within US network infrastructure that makes attribution of actors and defense of critical infrastructure impossible.
It's actually a really good situation for China since they have access to millions of these compromised devices in police stations, fire stations, hospitals, within critical infrastructure networks etc.
Also, the equivalent of mail censorship is already being done by more subtle means.
The US is more fucked than you know. I just hope the US doesn't piss china off too much. The asymmetric warfare will claim more lives of civilians than combatants.
glad a built my own last year.
Build your own open WRT router or get one of theirs. It's the best way to go and you don't get dragged through the monthly fee wringer for stupid child security or other stuff that is not well designed.
I can understand the FTC being involved because trade. But the FCC? Maybe regulatory authority over WiFi? But this seems like massive over reach.
Remember when conservatives claimed to support smaller government?
Remember when conservatives claimed to support smaller government?
I only remember when conservatives lied everytime they opened their mouths.
How about the bit where they say home routers have to be approved by the DHS or the "Department of War"? This is not normal.
This only applies to routers.
It's not widely known outside the ham radio community, but part of the 2.4GHz wifi band overlaps the 13cm amateur radio band. If you turn off 5GHz wifi and lock the 2.4GHz AP to Channel 1, it qualifies as a ham radio, and can be sold as a ham radio instead of an AP/Router. You do need a ham radio license to operate it as a Ham AP, but you do not need a license to buy a Ham AP.
If the end user wants to turn on 5GHz after the fact, there is not a damn thing the FCC can do about it.
But you can't run encryption on it. So that means no WEP, no WPA, no SSL, TLS, VPN, etc.
So yes, while you could run your own wireless access point, it doesn't solve the main requirement for most people which is privacy.
You aren't understanding my point.
My point is that you can continue to import and sell the exact same physical device, just with a little change in marketing, and possibly software.
My point is this: Once you have acquired the device, there is fuck all the FCC can do about you converting your "ham radio" back into a consumer-grade router.
This is technically not true, the FCC can and does enforce spectrum usage rules. Whether they will expend resources chasing down your router or your unlicensed GMRS is another matter.
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this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026
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