Is my router banned? What the FCC's March 2026 rule actually does
Updated
Short answer: no. If you bought your router before the rule, or bought a model that was already on store shelves, you can keep using it. The FCC says so in plain words: the action "does not prohibit the import, sale, or use of any existing device models the FCC previously authorized", and "consumers can continue to use any router they have already lawfully purchased or acquired" (FCC Fact Sheet, March 23, 2026).
What the FCC decided
On March 23, 2026 the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau added a new category to the Covered List, the list of equipment considered a risk to US national security: "routers produced in a foreign country, except routers which have been granted a Conditional Approval" (Public Notice DA 26-278). It followed a National Security Determination dated March 20, 2026.
Three details matter:
- It is about where a router is made, not who makes it. It applies "regardless of nationality of the producer", and production includes manufacturing, assembly, design and development. No company is named.
- It covers consumer routers: devices "primarily intended for residential use" that the customer can install.
- It blocks new authorizations. Equipment on the Covered List cannot receive a new FCC equipment authorization, which every router needs before it can be sold in the US.
What it does not do
- It does not make your router illegal to use.
- It does not stop stores from selling models the FCC authorized before March 23, 2026.
- It does not stop security fixes. Routers authorized before March 23 may keep receiving software and firmware updates that protect users at least until January 1, 2029 (DA 26-454, May 8, 2026, which extended an earlier date of March 1, 2027).
So who is affected?
Router makers launching new models produced abroad. To get those models authorized, a maker needs a Conditional Approval, granted "for periods of up to 18 months" with a plan to move production to the United States. Netgear, ASUS, eero, Starlink and more than a dozen other makers have one for some of their products. TP-Link had none in the FCC notices up to October 2, 2026.
How to check your router
- Find the brand and model on the label under the router. The label also shows the FCC ID: a short grantee code followed by a product code.
- Type them into the checker: it shows what the rule means for that brand and lists the known exploited vulnerabilities CISA reports for the model.
- If you want to see the original authorization, search the FCC ID in the FCC ID database. It tells you that a model was authorized; there is no official per-model list of "banned" routers, because the rule depends on where each model is produced.
The risk that is real
The rule is not a reason to throw your router away. Old, unpatched routers are. The FBI warned in May 2025 that end-of-life routers are being taken over by malware and resold as proxies, and advises replacing them or at least turning off remote administration (FBI, May 7, 2025). Keep the firmware up to date, change the default admin password, and replace a router once its maker stops releasing updates.