If you’re in the US and thinking of buying a new router to upgrade your home’s Wi-Fi, your choices could soon be drastically reduced, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has introduced a ban on routers made outside of the US, claiming that there’s “an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and to the safety and security of U.S. persons.”
The move follows recent high-profile cyberattacks, in which the FCC claims that “routers produced abroad were directly implicated”.
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Rooting for routers
Our best routers list is dominated by TP-Link (Chinese), Asus (Taiwanese), and Acer (Taiwanese) routers — all fantastic products, but any new routers made by those companies could now be banned from sale in the US.
There are, however, several excellent routers from Netgear, which is an American company. However, while the company is US-based, most of its manufacturing is done in Asia (mainly Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, after moving from China to avoid Donald Trump’s 25% tarrifs on Chinese imports).
Moreover, its routers, like many of its competitors, run on Realtek chips, which are built in Taiwan. As the FCC specifically mentions that it will no longer authorize foreign-made radios in routers, which handle wireless network transmissions and are a key part of the chip that powers the router, it means that Netgear’s routers could still be banned, despite its stock price rising by almost 20% since the FCC announcement.
If this is the case, then people in the US could have even more trouble finding routers worth buying in the future — it could certainly end with our best routers list being filled with routers that can’t be bought in the US.
What are your options?
There are some potential ways router makers could work around this ban. Netgear, for example, could once again move its hardware manufacturing, this time to the US, which is likely the favored outcome of the US government. However, that would be extremely time-consuming and costly, and would likely result in price rises for Netgear’s routers (many of which are already plenty expensive).
The FCC also said that router makers could apply for “conditional approval”, which could allow future routers to be sold in the US; however, it’s not currently clear what this process would entail.
While there’s a lot of confusion about this latest development, one thing I’m pretty certain of is that buying a new router could soon become more expensive for people in the US, especially if budget options dry up.
I worry it could even impact people who aren’t interested in buying a new router. If you use the free router that comes with your broadband service, those routers might also be subject to the ban, which would mean your ISP would have to source new devices. That will likely cost money, and sadly, that cost will probably be passed down to customers, if not in the actual price of the router, which is usually included as part of your subscription, but in higher monthly prices.
So, what do I now recommend people do? For a start, don’t panic — your router isn’t going to stop working or suddenly become illegal. This ban only affects upcoming routers, so existing ones will continue to work fine.
However, if you’re thinking of upgrading your router, it might be best to act sooner rather than later, before your options dwindle. Having said that, don’t rush any decision, as these routers won’t disappear from store shelves overnight. Our best routers buying guide offers advice and price comparison tools to help you make the right decision.
If you’re also concerned that the FCC’s ban means that your router poses a security threat, I again wouldn’t panic as long as you have standard security measures (making sure you have a Wi-Fi password, secure admin password for the router, and antivirus software). While the FCC ban targets consumer routers, the cyberattacks it cites are targeted at large institutions that can (unfortunately) produce the most damage. A single router used by a family to access the internet isn’t going to be as big a target.
Sure, this ban could lead to a boom in US-made routers, but that could take a long time to kick in as router makers shift product manufacturing, and due to a variety of factors, these routers will be more expensive.
So, my advice to people in the US considering a new router in the future is don’t panic yet, but if you’ve been hesitating on upgrading your home Wi-Fi, now might be the best time to pull that trigger.
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