It Turns Out My Router Was a National Security Decision

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 18:00:00 -0600

In March 2026, the FCC designated all consumer routers manufactured outside the United States as a national security risk, banning new foreign-made models from sale.¹ Eero, NetGear, and Google Nest are all affected, not just Chinese manufacturers, because they all produce hardware overseas.

The reasoning in the FCC’s National Security Determination is specific. Three Chinese nation-state operations, Volt Typhoon, Flax Typhoon, and Salt Typhoon, used compromised consumer routers to build botnets targeting US critical infrastructure: communications, energy, transportation, and water systems. The FBI and DOJ shut down one of these botnets in 2024. The ban follows directly from those incidents.²

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It Turns Out My Router Was a National Security Decision