alt.hn

3/24/2026 at 10:27:23 AM

USA bans all new routers for consumers

 https://www.heise.de/en/news/USA-bans-all-new-routers-for-consumers-11222049.html

by esher

3/24/2026 at 1:38:47 PM

The ban also includes a 2027 cutoff date for security updates to any unapproved routers. Given the long replacement cycle on home routers, I think the bigger security risk will end up being the millions of people using routers with unpatched security vulnerabilities…

by andre-p

3/24/2026 at 4:22:01 PM

Feels like.. that's the point

by Bombthecat

3/24/2026 at 3:16:00 PM

This is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard

by LeFantome

3/24/2026 at 7:10:02 PM

How come?

by johnisgood

3/24/2026 at 3:18:48 PM

Canadians and Mexicans may start supplying banned tech into the US like the rum-runners of old.

by LeFantome

3/24/2026 at 5:09:28 PM

I kind of wonder if we can also fix the "every device has internet access" problem.

All consumer routers let anything out. Your TV, your refrigerator, your microwave oven have unfettered access to the mothership - and data collectors/advertisers.

I think with 5g and 6g these devices might be getting other channels, and the two combined will just give us a huge proxy for the routers they are banning.

by m463

3/24/2026 at 5:44:42 PM

You said "also fix" but I'm not sure what preventing existing home routers from receiving security updates after 2027 fixes.

by iAMkenough

3/24/2026 at 7:10:51 PM

Do microwaves really have "smart" bs?

by johnisgood

3/25/2026 at 2:26:05 AM

My 20-year old one sure doesn't. I do wish it could listen to the NIST Time signal to set the clock though :)

by Henchman21

3/24/2026 at 1:11:06 PM

If you take qualcomm (tplink and netgear use this for example), only standards development and frontier RF r&d happen mostly in the US. Most of the RFIC, RTL+firmware+software is mostly from their GCCs in India. Fab in TSMC. Assembly in China.

So what's the plan here.

by porridgeraisin

3/24/2026 at 2:35:55 PM

The plan? Government control through "conditional approval" process and making it more costly to own a router than rent one from a consumer internet provider.

by iAMkenough

3/24/2026 at 3:15:21 PM

But....your ISP also has to procure a router from somewhere. Or are they just going to slap a sticker that says "verizon" on it and say it was made in the USA now?

by gambiting

3/24/2026 at 3:56:52 PM

They'll get a special government exemption, in return for accepting additional voluntary government oversight or some other under the table favour system.

by everyday7732

3/24/2026 at 4:26:09 PM

That's why there's a "conditional approval" process attached to this rule.

by iAMkenough

3/25/2026 at 9:31:05 AM

this is basically saying "you cant do anything unless i allow you to (and i might for a price)" in contrast to when government should just say "these are the things that you cant do, anything else is ok".

by vincnetas

3/25/2026 at 12:04:23 AM

Does this include ubiquiti? I can’t tell if that’s “consumer” or business/enterprise.

by nerdsniper

3/24/2026 at 1:21:22 PM

Do I wanna know why? I don't wanna know why.

by alphawhisky

3/24/2026 at 3:52:06 PM

If I had to guess it would be "campaign contributions".

by HappySweeney

3/24/2026 at 2:37:47 PM

"from intelligence agencies"

Pretty much, foreign adversaries have been using American home internet for years sounds like? This is a baseless claim fyi, I'm just trying to connect the dots.

by exabrial