FCC Announces First Conditional Approvals After 'Router Ban' Rollout
The Defense Department concluded several foreign made routers posed no risk to national security.
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2026 – Internet router companies are starting to obtain relief from newly imposed federal restrictions on routers made overseas.
The Federal Communications Commission and Homeland Security bureau announced the first set of conditional approvals for internet routers in an announcement on Tuesday, allowing for the sale of several models produced by Netgear and Altran made abroad.
These conditional approvals follow a March 23 announcement in which routers were added to a “covered list” effectively barring the sale of any new consumer grade router manufactured outside of the country. Consumers were still allowed to use routers they own and retailers were still allowed to sell routers already in the country under this policy.
A conditional approval process was established under the March 23 announcement to allow for companies to seek relief. This process requires companies to disclose their corporate structure, product supply chains and process by which they plan to onshore products in the future.
Router companies noted that onshoring manufacturing of these products would be unlikely in the short term and that the majority of vendors would likely face disruptions.
The conditional approval also included an Uncrewed Aircraft System produced by Sees.ai.
The FCC said in the March 23 announcement this determination was made by an Executive Branch intelligence body and national security agencies that routers “produced in a foreign country pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and to the safety and security of U.S. persons.”
“I welcome this Executive Branch national security determination, and I am pleased that the FCC has now added foreign-produced routers, which were found to pose an unacceptable national security risk, to the FCC’s Covered List,” said FCC Chairman Brenden Carr in the March 23 announcement. “Following President Trump’s leadership, the FCC will continue to do our part in making sure that U.S. cyberspace, critical infrastructure, and supply chains are safe and secure.”
Supply chain vulnerabilities and cyber security risk remain at the heart of these determinations according to the announcement, which noted that hackers have exploited security gaps in foreign made routers to conduct espionage operations and disrupt network operations.
The conditional approval notes that these products went through a determination process conducted by the Defense Department, which determined that these router products were not a threat to national security.
These conditional approvals expire on Oct. 1, 2027.
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