The ruling

On March 23, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission updated its Covered List — the government’s official register of communications equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security — to include all consumer-grade routers manufactured outside the United States. The decision was triggered by a National Security Determination issued by a White House-convened interagency body three days earlier, on March 20. The FCC described the finding plainly: foreign-produced routers have increasingly been exploited by state and non-state cyber attackers to compromise American home networks, from disrupting connectivity to enabling local espionage and intellectual property theft.

The practical effect of the ruling is immediate for new products: no new foreign-made router model may receive FCC equipment authorization — the approval required before any electronic device can be imported, marketed, or sold in the United States. Existing authorized models already on store shelves are unaffected and may continue to be sold. However, from March 1, 2027 onward, brands that have not secured conditional approval will also lose the ability to push new firmware updates to those existing products.

Companies seeking an exemption must apply for a “Conditional Approval” from either the Department of War (DoW) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which then conducts an individualized national security assessment before forwarding a determination to the FCC.

Netgear’s waiver

On April 14, 2026, the FCC granted San Jose-based Netgear the first conditional approval under the new framework. The Defense Department reviewed Netgear’s application and concluded that its products do not pose risks to U.S. national security, though the FCC’s public order offered no detailed explanation of the rationale.

The waiver is not an unlimited green light. It runs only until October 1, 2027, and covers a wide range of product lines — including the Nighthawk (R, RAX, RAXE, RS, MK, MR, M, MH series) and Orbi mesh routers (RBK, RBE, RBR, RBRE, LBR, LBK, CBK series), as well as cable gateways and cable modems (CAX and CM series). Crucially, Netgear must still obtain individual FCC equipment certifications for each new device it launches; the conditional approval effectively opens the door to that process, setting October 1, 2027 as the deadline by which each certified product must complete its authorization.

Notably, despite the national security framing, Netgear manufactures all of its consumer router products in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand — not in the United States. The company emphasized its U.S. headquarters and founding, but the FCC’s order does not require domestic manufacturing as a condition of approval. A second company, Adtran Inc., also received conditional approval for its Service Delivery Gateway class of router.

An industry-wide disruption

The ruling hits virtually every other major brand. TP-Link, which holds an estimated 35% of the U.S. consumer router market and manufactures in Vietnam, stated that the ban “appears to affect virtually all new consumer-grade routers being sold in the United States.” The company added that it is confident in its supply chain security and has already been planning to establish U.S.-based manufacturing. ASUS, which has served U.S. customers since 1991, said it is “confident in the integrity of our supply chain.” D-Link, Linksys, Amazon’s eero, Google Nest Wi-Fi, MSI, Synology, and ExpressVPN are all similarly affected, as each relies on manufacturing in Asia.

Observers have noted the breadth of the ban is wider than expected. For years, regulatory scrutiny focused specifically on TP-Link over its ties to China. The March 2026 ruling swept far beyond that, capturing U.S.-headquartered companies like Amazon and Google alongside Chinese-founded firms. For companies headquartered outside the United States, analysts note the conditional approval bar may be higher. All affected companies may submit applications to the FCC at conditional-approvals@fcc.gov for forwarding to DoW and DHS for case-by-case review.

What it means for consumers

For households with existing routers, nothing changes immediately. Devices currently in use remain fully supported and legal to operate. Retailers may also continue selling existing authorized inventory. The first meaningful consumer-facing impact arrives March 1, 2027, when non-approved brands lose the ability to push new firmware updates to existing models — a potential security concern in its own right, given that outdated firmware is itself a primary attack vector. Until other manufacturers secure approvals, Netgear holds a uniquely advantaged position: it is the only brand currently able to launch new router models and maintain ongoing software support without restriction.

Industry analysts caution against reading this as a permanent monopoly. The conditional approval framework is designed to be a pathway for other manufacturers, and the process is still in its earliest stages. How quickly the DoW and DHS can process applications at scale — and whether politically sensitive brands like TP-Link can realistically obtain approval — remains the defining open question.

Timeline