Technology

What's the play here? Something isn't making sense.

With the Trump administration, the only thing you can be sure of is that the stated reason isn't the real reason. Somebody's got to be getting a payday from this.

Land of the free? Freedom just keeps slipping away.....

The next step is government approved routers with NSA backdoors.

The only slight problem with this is that there are no routers made in the USA.

lmfao. apparently the way this was originally written would have prevented non-exempt routers from getting security updates. you know, the alleged reason this ruling even exists. somebody at the FCC office of engineering and technology must have noticed because they issued a temporary waiver (PDF file).

Applying the revised 47 CFR §§ 2.932(b) and 2.1043(b) to the newly added Covered Routers would have the effect of prohibiting permissive changes to Covered Routers even if they were authorized prior to the March 23, 2026, Covered List addition. This prohibition would be in effect even for Class I permissive changes—such as software and firmware security updates that mitigate harm to U.S. consumers—because previously-authorized Routers are now covered equipment. ............... Therefore, OET concludes that a limited waiver until March 1, 2027, is warranted and in the public interest. March 1, 2027, is convenient because it is the date until which the recent DoW determination excepts certain otherwise Covered Routers. Prior to March 1, 2027, the OET will re-evaluate whether to further extend applicability.

Cisco is made in China. Ubiquiti, Vietnam or Thailand I think.

How is this going to work?

From another article about this topic:

This leads to the question of what exactly the FCC means by consumer-grade routers.

In September 2024, NIST submitted proposals to strengthen the – undeniably modest – IT security of routers (NIST IR 8425A). It states: “Routers forward data packets, most commonly Internet Protocol (IP) packets, between networked systems.”

This encompasses a wide range of devices, from WLAN repeaters to smartphones

So new smartphones are banned too?

You can install router software on any computer

https://opnsense.org/

All the thrift stores here throw them away. I've got dozens of them, variety of all types piled up in the closet because why the fuck the not? Fucking knew they'd come after them eventually.

I'll stick with my pfsense... Just rebuilt it yesterday to upgrade it a bit.

I don’t think there was a lot of research into where these things come from to begin with.

designating all consumer routers manufactured outside the U.S. as a security risk

So this is horseshit, right?

First of all, ALL routers from ANY country are a security risk? Every single other nation is trying to make Spyware for the average American consumer? Doubt.

Second, they are extremely concerned with all consumers' security from foreign actors to the point it needs an outright ban on hardware to protect us. God forbid I buy an AVM router from Germany and open up my home networking to German Spies. What if they find out I sometimes visit porn websites and yourube!?

Third, that the US government, themselves, are trustworthy and wont force backdoors into systems to allow them unfettered access into private networks, something that they HAVE TRIED TO AND SUCCEEDED TO DO IN THE PAST. And also something that they are very clearly opening the door for with all of these legal pushes toward requiring age verification software and OS's. They want to ban foreign routers so that you have to buy routers from companies that they can control. They can ask, coerce and force them to give them access behind the scenes for some bullshit excuse ("protect the kiddies", "law enforcement", "national security", "terrorism"), force them to not tell the public, and then "secretly" monitor every device in the entire country. They are almost certainly already doing this with a significant number of US manufacturers and software developers.

Fuck these fascists.

I think you guy are forgetting Occam Razor… the most likely scenario (least assumptions) here is that some inept appointee from the orange pedo thought this would be a good idea and pushed it with the research, planning and preparation we all put at farting after eating Taco Bell

The rent for your ISP provided hardware is about to go up by x10. Also you will get a letter saying you don't have an approved router installed.

So everything

Just to spell out what many comments already hint at:

There are no US-made routers. "Made" here refers to companies, not where the stuff is actually made. Even if the plastic housing happened to be made in the US for one or two products, the components are still from far away.

Those few US companies paid MAGA for this.

This is corruption pure and simple.

So consumer grade routers are a security risk, but not ISP switches or server routers? That's the opposite of what a state level actor would look for.

So at what point do they ban all new computers not made domestically?

Figures, make it difficult and expensive for consumers to get routers. Make it so people must pay 5 times as much for a lower quality "US made" router in 4-5 years once the factories are built; or people just stop using the internet at home like the administration wants.

The US does not make many electronics, and when we do, they are ALWAYS made with imported components. So this is once again a threat to companies to move production to the US, but with ZERO incentive for the companies to do so.

No wonder our economy is tanking so hard under these nazi's. They are so incompetent, it hurts.

Are there actually any US-made consumer network routers on the market? All the brands I can think of are pretty much made in Asia these days.