The US claims foreign-made routers pose national security risks.
In December, the Federal Communications Commission banned all future drones made in foreign countries from being imported into the United States, unless or until their maker gets an exemption. Now, the FCC has done the exact same for consumer networking gear, citing “an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and to the safety and security of U.S. persons.”
If you already have a Wi-Fi or wired router, you can keep on using it — and companies that have already gotten FCC radio authorization for a specific foreign-made product can continue to import that product.
But since the vast majority — if not all — consumer routers are manufactured outside the United States, the vast majority of future consumer routers are now banned. By adding all foreign-made consumer routers to its Covered List, the FCC is saying it will no longer authorize their radios, which de facto bans new devices from import into the country.
Wait, it talks about FCC radio authorization. However that doesn’t make it a router, just an access point. Quite a few routers (thinking the Pro-sumer Uniquiti UXG models) don’t even have radios and aren’t wireless so there’s no radio they can withhold certification on. This could affect AIOs but all you’d have to do is separate your router from your AP.
Definitely sounds like a quickly thrown out, half baked shakedown (bribe) measure with something they could control (radio authorization) and just targeted routers since that’s a common place they are.