You can keep using your existing router.

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.

  • ramble81@lemmy.zip
    5·
    1 hour ago

    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.

  • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
    3·
    2 hours ago

    Ah yes, more security holes incoming. Gotta love maglomania (not sure if that is the correct word?)

  • pHr34kY@lemmy.world
    13·
    4 hours ago

    Many people will soon find joy in slapping a 4-port NIC into an old PC and learning nftables, BIND9 and kea.

  • Imaginary_Stand4909@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    161·
    7 hours ago

    So… can I still flash custom firmware like OPNsense and Openwrt on them? Cause I literally just posted about hardware decision a few days ago 😭

    Edit: It seems the article and actual FCC document will leave previous router models alone, but anything newer is cooked… Even the US brands like Cisco aren’t actually manufactured here because we fucking outsource evrything. I hate this government.

      • SuiXi3D@fedia.io
        51·
        3 hours ago

        We can make wafers here, and we can absolutely do final assembly using wave solder machines (worked for a couple of companies in Austin doing either) but it’s the crucial step between that we don’t do. The US doesn’t really make electrical components, not at that scale anyway. We don’t even spend the money on pick and place machines, and even if we do final board assembly here it’s sub-par at best. I’m arguing with my boss every day that I’m not a damn machine, I can’t make perfect solder joints every time.

      • wheezy@lemmy.mlEnglish
        27·
        8 hours ago

        It’s not about that. It’s about existing manufacturers getting “approval”. That approval likely means it’s got a Palantir backdoor pre installed.

        They can still be made outside the US as long as they are approved. That’s all this is about.

      • Tim@lemmy.snowgoons.ro
        7·
        8 hours ago

        Provided they are made with rolled steel and have a big-ass two-stroke diesel attached, I am entirely sure that routers are within the abilities of the US’s high-tech industrial base.

        Can you power a router with Clean Coal™?

    • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
      1·
      9 hours ago

      I mean, if the article is correctly-assessing the situation, and you’re correct that there aren’t any, I’d expect them to show up pretty quickly. Might cost more.

  • unmagical@lemmy.ml
    31·
    10 hours ago

    It is possible (and now probably encouraged) to run router software on an old PC. You can also slot in a PCIE nic or connect it too a hardware switch and AP for more flexibility and control.

    This won’t stop your ISP from spying on you, but it will stop your American router manufacturer from spying on you.

  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    4·
    9 hours ago

    looks dubious

    I mean, I don’t disagree that there are security risks posed by random consumer broadband routers. It is definitely the case that unmaintained — not intentionally shipped with malware — routers have been a real security problem in the past. My own view is that the current set of conventions, which often has very poor or no security on devices on the LAN and thus relies on the router to keep bad stuff out, is a very real part of that problem, but sure, having a secure router is part of that.

    However.

    I’d say that the majority of the threats that a router poses are also posed by any device on the LAN that can call out to the Internet. Like, you aren’t doing a lot to secure devices on the LAN if you ban routers and then I can still go buy *random gadget from wherever that can get on the WiFi or wired Ethernet network and phone home, take instructions from home, and can talk to other devices on the LAN. I mean, are you also going to ban, say, smart televisions? Ethernet-connected security cameras? I mean, poorly-secured network-connected cameras have posed very real threats in places like Ukraine, where military intelligence has actively exploited them to get information about an area come conflict.

    And I just don’t think that we’re going to commit to locking that down.

    • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
      1·
      2 hours ago

      The idea is to stamp some that install doge palantir vibe coded back door to the propaganda control machine then they’re “made in the us” and then you just have to come up with a good excuse. But the excuse department is kind of busy, so wysiwyg

    • Barbecue Cowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      2·
      5 hours ago

      They did a first pass on banning security cameras many years ago. It was maybe the test bed, I can definitely see that one getting revisited. They only banned two major manufacturers that had kinda already been caught as a major security concern.

      It’s why you don’t see hikvision or dahua anymore where they used to be major players.