Foreign-Made Router Restrictions

Doghouse – OpenWrt

Article from Issue 308/2026
Author(s):

A recent FCC decision won't allow new authorizations for foreign-made consumer routers to be sold in the US.

Another day, another questionable US policy: Last month it was about age verification using operating systems; this month it's about home routers and whether routers designed and/or manufactured outside your own country are safe for use. Or alternatively, if the router is designed and manufactured inside your own country, is it safe to use?

On March 23, 2026 [1], the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced – based on its concern that foreign-made routers could have malware in them or have Trojan horses and trapdoors built in that would allow them to be used against us, either individually or in mass – that there would be no new authorizations for foreign-made consumer routers to be sold in the US.

Fortunately, the FCC did not make this policy retroactive and does allow foreign-made routers already being sold in the US (as of March 23, 2026) to continue doing so.

[...]

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