[HN Gopher] FCC Prohibits New Approval of Foreign-Made Consumer ...
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       FCC Prohibits New Approval of Foreign-Made Consumer Routers
        
       Author : aw-engineer
       Score  : 11 points
       Date   : 2026-03-28 15:23 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (docs.fcc.gov)
 (TXT) w3m dump (docs.fcc.gov)
        
       | aw-engineer wrote:
       | WASHINGTON, March 23, 2026--Today, the Federal Communications
       | Commission updated its Covered List to include all consumer-grade
       | routers produced in foreign countries. Routers are the boxes in
       | every home that connect computers, phones, and smart devices to
       | the internet. This followed a determination by a White House-
       | convened Executive Branch interagency body with appropriate
       | national security expertise that such routers "pose unacceptable
       | risks to the national security of the United States or the safety
       | and security of United States persons."
        
       | allears wrote:
       | Are there any consumer-grade (or any grade) routers produced in
       | the US?
        
         | aw-engineer wrote:
         | Great question.
         | 
         | As a data point, Purism has worked on USA supply chain for
         | their cell phone (Librem 5), and currently ships with mixed-
         | origin parts. "We use US companies with US fabrication whenever
         | possible. Most distributors are based in the US with the
         | exception of large integrated circuits that are made in a
         | variety of countries where those companies do fabrication (US,
         | Taiwan, South Korea, Japan); an example is the NXP CPU we use
         | from their fabrication in South Korea."
         | <https://puri.sm/products/librem-5-usa/#table-of-origin>
        
       | nubinetwork wrote:
       | Dupe of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47495344 possibly
       | others
        
       | cyanydeez wrote:
       | So on the one hand, this is an absurd ban; on the other hand,
       | whenever this corrupt USA government does anything this absurd,
       | it usually signals the start of the kleptocrat activities.
       | 
       | So, whose going to come rescuse us with the CLEARLY superior
       | technology that ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT implement the very thing the
       | FCC is trying to protect the SMALL american from?
        
         | theoreticalmal wrote:
         | What makes this ban absurd?
        
           | SR2Z wrote:
           | The United States has many close allies who manufacture
           | routers. Seeing as how we already share intelligence and
           | military technology, banning their routers seems...
           | inconsistent.
           | 
           | The part that will make it absurd is going to come when Trump
           | suddenly greenlights some made-in-China routers because the
           | CEO responsible made a "donation" to a "charity." Probably
           | the presidential library.
        
           | bl4kers wrote:
           | Practically all routers are made overseas. So unless new
           | factories get built ASAP the U.S. is all but guaranteed to
           | have a router shortage and a thriving grey/black market
        
             | wtallis wrote:
             | That's missing the aspect where exceptions to the ban can
             | be granted by the DoD or DHS, so in practice the outcome
             | will be that effectively all routers need to appease the
             | national security apparatus before getting FCC approval.
        
               | kelnos wrote:
               | Right, hence the toplevel commenter's bit about "it
               | usually signals the start of the kleptocrat activities."
        
       | HotGarbage wrote:
       | Wonder which companies will present gold-plated routers to Trump
       | in order to get around this.
        
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       (page generated 2026-03-28 23:01 UTC)