Is my router banned? Almost certainly not.

What the entry covers

The Covered List entry reads: routers produced in a foreign country, except routers granted a Conditional Approval by the Department of War or DHS. It rests on a national security determination of 20 March 2026 by an interagency body convened by the White House.

• Consumer-grade only. “Routers” follows NIST IR 8425A: consumer-grade networking devices primarily intended for residential use that the customer can install. The FCC’s FAQ puts home and small-office routers, mobile hotspots, residential 4G and 5G gateways, ISP-supplied home routers and modem-router gateways in scope.
• Not enterprise gear. The FAQ puts enterprise, industrial and military equipment, phone adapters, femtocells, optical network terminals and phones with a hotspot feature out of scope.
• “Produced” is broad. Production generally includes any major stage: design, development, manufacturing and assembly. The producer’s nationality does not matter. A router made in the United States is not covered just because it contains foreign components, unless one of them is a modular transmitter.
• New models only. The Covered List stops new FCC authorisations. Routers that already have an FCC ID may continue to be imported, sold and used. The FCC’s separate June 2026 import and marketing ban on older Covered List equipment expressly does not apply to routers.

Conditional approvals

A maker can apply for a Conditional Approval by email to the FCC, which forwards the request to the Department of War and DHS; their decision is final. An approval lasts up to 18 months, requires a plan to move production to the United States with quarterly updates, and can cover one model, a class of routers, or everything from one producer. The FCC lists the approvals granted on the Covered List page; the first was dated 14 April 2026. Routers authorised during an approval can still be sold after it ends.

“Is my [brand] router banned?”

The router entry names no brand. It turns on where a model was produced and when it was authorised. To check a specific new model:

1. Find the FCC IDOn the label, in the manual or in the router’s admin page. If the model already has an FCC ID, it can be sold and used.
2. Check the Covered List pageFor a model authorised after 23 March 2026, see whether its producer holds a Conditional Approval.
3. Check the named entitiesTelecommunications equipment produced by Huawei or ZTE has been on the Covered List since 12 March 2021, and since 16 July 2026 the FCC bars its import and marketing, including previously authorised models. That is a separate entry from the router entry.

What an owner should do

• Households. Nothing is required. Keep the firmware updated, and replace a router once its maker stops shipping security updates.
• Small businesses. The same, and keep a list of the network equipment you run with makers and models; it answers this question in a minute next time.
• Federal contractors. The router entry is an FCC equipment rule, not a procurement rule. Your obligations come from Section 889 and the clauses in your contract; see our Section 889 guide.

Questions people ask

Is my router banned?

Almost certainly not. The FCC says routers that already have an FCC ID may continue to be imported, sold and used, and owners do not need to do anything. Since 23 March 2026, new consumer-grade router models produced in a foreign country cannot get FCC authorisation without a Conditional Approval from the Department of War or DHS.

Are TP-Link routers banned in the US?

The FCC router entry names no brand. It covers new consumer-grade router models produced in a foreign country, whoever makes them, unless they hold a Conditional Approval. Models already authorised can still be sold and used. The only equipment makers the Covered List names for telecommunications equipment are Huawei and ZTE, listed since 2021.

Does the router rule apply to business and enterprise equipment?

No. The entry uses the NIST IR 8425A meaning of router: consumer-grade devices primarily intended for residential use that the customer can install. The FCC's FAQ puts enterprise, industrial and military networking equipment out of scope.

Can I still buy a router made abroad?

Yes, if the model was authorised before the entry or under a Conditional Approval. The FCC says routers with an existing FCC ID may continue to be imported, sold and used, and routers authorised during a Conditional Approval can still be sold after it ends.

Can my router still get firmware updates?

Yes. The FCC's FAQ says repairs, identical replacement parts and firmware updates for already-authorised routers are allowed, under a waiver the FCC issued (DA 26-454).

Primary sources

• FCC Covered List, list dated 9 October 2026.
• FCC DA 26-278, routers produced in a foreign country added to the Covered List, 23 March 2026.
• FCC, FAQs on the Covered List entry for routers produced in foreign countries, updated 12 May 2026.
• FCC DA 26-635, import and marketing prohibition for equipment listed in 2024 or earlier, 26 June 2026, effective 16 July 2026.
• 47 CFR 1.50002, the Covered List, eCFR current as of 8 October 2026.

General information, not legal advice. BSJ Ventures publishes methods; it never publishes clients, cases or verdicts, and it claims no relationship with any agency or maker named here.