Last week’s FCC order banning foreign-made Wi-Fi routers, ironically, set a deadline for home Internet security.
The commission insists that the ban does not affect consumer Wi-Fi routers that are currently on sale or in your home, only future products. However, as it stands, everyone’s foreign-made routers can only receive software updates until March 1, 2027.
The Technology Policy Institute, a US think tank, flagged this issue on Friday, writing: “The ban creates the harm it claims to solve.”
Meanwhile, CNET points out that it’s difficult to even recommend a model of a Wi-Fi router because we don’t know which products will be able to receive updates in the future.
Despite the uncertainty now, legal experts expect the FCC to clarify the issue over time. The looming question is whether the Trump administration will grant leniency to certain vendors while allowing software patch support to expire for others.
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Ensuring that your Wi-Fi router receives software updates is critical to catching vulnerabilities, especially since router blocking is all about preventing hackers from exploiting weaknesses in home network devices. Most, if not all, routers are manufactured in countries such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam and India. Or, at least, it has parts made abroad. But the Trump administration is pushing for all future routers to be made in the US, which it sees as a way to prevent routers made abroad from introducing “supply chain vulnerabilities.”
While software updates are generally a good thing, some analysts have characterized the update as a way for the Chinese company to continue to access data from US networks as the FCC continues to crack down on Huawei and ZTE mobile devices.
In the short term, the FCC has granted approval that allows software updates to continue streaming to existing Wi-Fi routers already sold and used in the US. Loyaan Egal, a former FCC enforcement official who now works at the law firm Morgan Lewis, told PCMag: “This candidate accepts the challenges associated with completely changing the global production and supply chain that is dependent on the need for a focus on domestic goods and supplies in the US.”
Just catching? The sale only lasts for the next 11 months. The FCC did not respond to a request for comment. But Egal said: “The FCC believes that the one-year period will give companies and consumers time to adapt, as well as give it an opportunity to consider how this proposed waiver will affect the development of the Covered List.”
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(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
There are also signs that the commission is preparing to come up with a proper policy. In the waiver document, the FCC explains that in December, it adopted new rules aimed at protecting the US telecommunications supply chain. These rules prevent minor software changes to routers made abroad due to last week’s ban. Now the FCC wants to delay to “give the commission an opportunity to consider the application” of new rules on restricted routers.
In January, the FCC also granted a limited-time license to software updates for foreign-made drones, which it began banning last year. As with routers, the FCC allows vendors to release software updates for legally authorized drones, but “at least until January 1, 2027″—or two months before the router’s associated deadline.
The Commission also notes that in both cases, the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology may “re-evaluate” whether to extend the time even further.
“As explained in the release, we expect the FCC to evaluate whether to allow software and firmware beyond March 1, 2027,” added Henry Wendel, special counsel at law firm Cooley. “Many consumers will be buying new routers this year and will need updates to address new security issues.”
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The 11-month period also gives the US time to decide which router manufacturers will be allowed to sell in which country. As part of the ban, the FCC created a “Conditional Acceptance” process that can grant temporary fixes to new routers made abroad that want to be sold in the US, but under the pretense that they explain how they plan to bring their product to the US. It will be up to the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to decide which applications get the green light.
“If companies need the FCC to expand their product coverage, they should work with the FCC to help it understand how to expand the waiver to help protect their customers,” Wendel says.
The lawyer of the negotiations also told PCMag that he expects the US to issue exemptions for many new types of routers that work, which the Commission is already doing in the case of the FCC’s ban on drones made in other countries. Currently, only four types of drones have been granted conditional approval, and none of them are from the well-known Chinese drone manufacturer DJI.
The same situation can be played with foreign-made routers, where exemptions are granted to others but not for products related to China, which could lead to lawsuits challenging the FCC.
However, a lawyer for the negotiations predicts that the FCC will increase the software development waivers to prevent US consumers from being caught in the regulatory chaos. “If someone, for example, buys a router this fall that was previously approved, then getting all the software on March 1 may not be enough. My suspicions are that the (FCC) staff will give relatively short waivers to allow these security updates because failure to do so will be against the general purpose of the ban itself,” he said.
About Our Expert
Michael Kahn
Senior Reporter
Experience
I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I started as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I currently live in San Francisco, but have spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I have covered the launch and explosion of SpaceX’s Starlink Internet service, writing 600+ stories about the availability and production of components, but also control battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, battles with competing providers such as AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and efforts to grow into a satellite-based mobile service. I searched through FCC filings for the latest information and headed to the far reaches of California to test Starlink’s phone service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay customers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their content to third-party customers, as revealed at my conference. research and Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic shortages led me to camp out in front of Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. Now I’m following how President Trump’s tariffs will affect the industry. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments and send me tips.
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