With the Federal Communications Commission banning foreign-made Wi-Fi routers and drones, should we expect restrictions on more product categories, including phones and laptops?
“My sense is this is not the end. That this will be a mechanism used for other categories, and that we will see more of this in 2026,” says Shawn DuBravac, chief economist for the Global Electronics Association, which advocates for thousands of companies in the IT supply chain.
The FCC is best known for regulating telecommunications, but experts see signs that the agency is starting to dictate US industrial policy as the Trump administration tries to reshore electronics manufacturing.
Theoretically, the FCC could expand the router and drone ban to additional product categories, as the commission oversees an equipment authorization process to ensure radio-frequency devices don’t cause harmful interference. That authorization covers not only routers and drones but also phones, laptops, and even video game consoles, since they can communicate wirelessly via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
“Connected doorbells, cameras inside of your home, connected televisions, you can pick any category that you can think of,” DuBravac says.
(Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Since the FCC is restricting new foreign-made consumer routers and drones by blocking them from receiving the equipment authorizations, DuBravac notes that it’s “very, very easy to replicate this” with other product categories. “This starts to look a lot like industrial policy.”
‘Not a Question for the FCC to Answer’
The Technology Policy Institute (TPI), a US think tank, also views the router and drone bans as signs that the FCC is embarking on a new “industrial policy path” that should concern the public.
“When it makes industrial policy, it is improvising,” TPI President Scott Wallsten writes in a blog post. “The router ban will raise the price of every router sold in the United States. Whether that cost is justified by the security benefit is a legitimate question, but it is not a question for the FCC to answer.”
He also points out that the FCC is pushing to return call center jobs to the US, even though the commission has typically focused on radio spectrum and telecom rollout issues. “The fact that routers and call centers touch communications networks does not make manufacturing location and workforce location into communications policy,” Wallsten adds. “Taken to its logical conclusion, that reasoning would mean FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] could regulate the design of household appliances because they consume electricity, or the FAA could regulate airline catering because it happens on aircraft.”
FCC Chair Brendan Car (Credit: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The FCC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But it has pointed to a White House determination that foreign-made drones and Wi-Fi routers pose a national security risk, over concerns that foreign adversaries could exploit the devices for computer hacking and potential surveillance.
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Still, the policy has raised questions and concerns, as nearly all consumer Wi-Fi routers are made outside the US in countries such as Vietnam, Mexico, and Taiwan. The FCC’s ban effectively freezes the market; although existing routers can continue to be sold and used in the US, new models are blocked under the FCC’s order.
On top of this, the Commission quietly set an expiration date that will allow vendors to issue software updates for foreign-made consumer routers only until March 1, 2027, although the policy could be revised in the coming months.
‘It’s a Witch Hunt’
The other issue is how the ban focuses more on product manufacturing than on instituting new security standards on routers, such as patching vulnerabilities. “To me, it’s a witch hunt,” says Claus Hetting, CEO of Wi-Fi NOW, an industry group that promotes Wi-Fi technologies. “I have yet to see any real evidence that these Wi-Fi routers are more dangerous compared to anything else. Why is a mobile phone not a risk? Why is it only routers?”
That’s why it’s not hard to see how the FCC could apply the same security concerns to other product categories. In the meantime, the commission is allowing vendors to apply for an exemption to the ban. So far, only Netgear and Adtran, two US companies, have been exempted, but the FCC did not explain its reasoning or explain if the companies made a major commitment to US manufacturing. (Adtran already has manufacturing facilities in Alabama.)
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(Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
To receive the exemption, Netgear told PCMag: “We reviewed the FCC’s public guidelines for conditional approval, submitted an application that followed those guidelines, and received approval on our application.”
The two-page guidelines require a “Manufacturing and Supply Chain Disclosure” and a “US Manufacturing and Onshoring Plan,” but don’t say much about cybersecurity standards, instead listing the “entities responsible for IP ownership and software updates for the router.”
The FCC took about three weeks to issue the exemption, which DuBravac finds surprising given the paperwork required, but he calls it an encouraging sign for manufacturers. The exemption also means Netgear can issue software updates to its foreign-made routers beyond March 2027.
“Presumably, Netgear included in their application a clear, or at least a clear enough, roadmap for domestic production of consumer routers,” he says. Still, the FCC’s exemption only gives Netgear an 18-month window to receive equipment authorization for new Wi-Fi router models, suggesting the commission will keep tabs on the company’s manufacturing plans. The big question is whether other vendors will receive the same exemption.
Bringing Wi-Fi router and other electronics production to the US could drive job growth. But DuBravac notes it would be a major undertaking that would require “years” to achieve, rather than merely 18 months, especially if the manufacturing extends beyond product assembly to cover all components inside. The other issue is the high costs; vendors have long relied on electronics manufacturing in Asia and on the global supply chain to produce affordable electronics. In contrast, DuBravac says exclusively reshoring the manufacturing to the US risks being “highly inflationary,” clashing with the White House’s affordability aims.
“I think it does stymie innovation,” he adds, noting that vendors could end up focusing on manufacturing reshoring, rather than typical product development. “The reason why we have these super sophisticated phones is because of all of the economies of scale that drive the price down and make it attractive to us… It’s pretty amazing I can get a wearable to do all of these things for $50, or for $100, or $400. It’s pretty shocking what would have been $10,000 not that long ago is now $300.”
About Our Expert
Michael Kan
Principal Reporter
Experience
I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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