I’m curious whether this will affect the Wyze Mesh Router Pro and Wyze Mesh Router units that are already sold and currently in people’s homes.
I have a three-router Wyze Mesh Router Pro setup, and I’m concerned this might lead Wyze to stop providing security updates after March 1, 2027.
“The Federal Communications Commission has released a notice today designating any consumer routers manufactured outside the US as a security risk. The rule states that new foreign-made product models for network routers will land on the Covered List, a set of communications equipment seen as having an unacceptable risk to national security. Previously purchased routers can still be used and retailers can still sell models that were approved by the prior FCC policies. In an exception to the usual rule, routers included on the Covered List can continue to receive updates at least through March 1, 2027, although the date could potentially be extended.
The move stems from a goal in the White House’s 2025 national security strategy that reads: “the United States must never be dependent on any outside power for core components—from raw materials to parts to finished products—necessary to the nation’s defense or economy.” The notice from the FCC states that companies can apply for conditional approval for new products from the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security. However, that requires the businesses to provide a plan for shifting at least some of their manufacturing to the US in order to receive that conditional approval.
Few, if any, brands known for consumer-grade routers currently build products stateside. It seems likely this sweeping provision could face legal challenges from and cause confusion for the many companies that have production facilities overseas. In addition to Chinese tech giants like TP-Link, US companies will also be affected. NetGear, Eero and Google Nest are all headquartered domestically but have manufacturing in Asia. At least some of that manufacturing activity happens in regions like Taiwan that have historically been on good terms with the US. Until the sector sorts out this new restriction, don’t expect to see any new router models on store shelves.” - Polymarket is cracking down on insider trading with updated rules
I’ve been reading up on this as well, I knew TP link was on the hot seat as well as Huawei and I think ZTE, but im not terribly sure on that one if it was going to happen.
My understanding was slightly different from yours though in that it wasn’t simply ones that were made outside the United States but any that were made by companies having ties or links to specifically the Chinese government. There was a scandal with what back doors were being put in that the CCP would be able to access or give a denial of service to at some point without the user’s control, I dont think Wyze would be on a list like this As although manufacturing might take place somewhere else, all the coding and software and security work to my knowledge is done here in the good old US of A. And at the point that the government would try to block everyone who makes it outside of the US we would quickly fall behind in processing power and numerous other things if they were to try to make that attempt just because it would take years to scale up the ability to build that type of thing here between the manufacturing process and of course the knowledge of how to do so. It’s one of the reasons that although some chips are starting to be made here in very limited quantities We just don’t have the infrastructure or knowledge base to do the best work here currently on the scale needed for consumerism.
New devices on the Covered List, such as foreign-made consumer-grade routers, are prohibited from receiving FCC authorization and are therefore prohibited from being imported for use or sale in the U.S. This update to the Covered List does not prohibit the import, sale, or use of any existing device models the FCC previously authorized.
This action does not affect any previously-purchased consumer-grade routers. Consumers can continue to use any router they have already lawfully purchased or acquired.
Hardware backdoor is harder to catch than software. Historically the hardware vulnerability stays unnoticed until years later and way after widespread adaptation and use. Fortunately those weren’t intentional and more or less brute force exploitations found by researchers but imagine similar exploitation baked in and someone having the knowledge from day 1.
There’s no stopping it and no one will be prepared. It won’t matter who made the firmware\software.
LOL the summary had some funny sarcastic parts showing some of the contradictions indicate it’s not really about security but more about pushing for domestic manufacturing.
The press release page explained that the full title was “FCC Updates Covered List to Include Foreign-Made Consumer Routers, Prohibiting Approval of New Models.” So, all of the existing, apparently attack-prone and buggy routers can still be sold. But anything that’s new and hopefully improved is banned. Yay for the U.S.’s national security.
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…This means that foreign manufacturers, which, again, is to say all router manufacturers, are prevented from introducing any new router models into the U.S. They’re free to keep making the existing routers. And they’re also presumably free to keep updating those routers’ firmware, which might be used to add new features or eliminate bugs. But that would mean that as WiFi technologies continue advancing and requiring support from new chipsets and radio hardware, newer routers cannot be obtained from traditional foreign suppliers.
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But for quite some time, now, it has only been when a router’s user deliberately configures their router to allow external connections, and thus to implicitly solicit external attacks, that any of the various Chinese Typhoons – Volt, Salt or Flax – might have been able to get into user’s networks through those routers. My point is, for quite some time now – like for the past 10 years – it’s been users who have been unwittingly causing these external open-port exposure problems and none of that would be lessened by routers having domestic points of origin. Thus, nothing the FCC is attempting to do will fix anything that’s broken.
Reading the whole thing, again, it seems to me like security isn’t really the issue or they would make people stop using existing routers too. The goal is simply to push more manufacturing back to the USA and they are using security as the excuse so that the FCC can force the issue instead of relying on the legislature to pass something. Hopefully this doesn’t put the USA behind on newer technology though. I am not totally sure of the rules, but hopefully US manufacturers can at least import foreign pieces and assemble/manufacture here. If everything has to be absolutely domestic, we might fall behind for 3-5 years since it takes a while for some things to be built and come to full capacity.
I might miss getting WiFi 8 for a few years due to this issue, but at least I have really good WiFi 7 APs running already.
