In March 2026, the FCC under Trump-appointed Chairman Brendan Carr banned all new foreign-manufactured consumer routers, citing Chinese cyberattack campaigns. On April 15, Netgear became the first major company to receive a “conditional approval” exemption — covering its entire product line through October 2027. Neither Netgear nor the FCC has explained why.
The exemption covers Netgear's full product lines (Nighthawk, Orbi, cable gateways, cable modems) despite the company having 1,332 CVEs (security vulnerabilities) on record. In December 2025, Netgear disclosed active vulnerabilities and told users of one affected model to just “buy a new router.” In February 2025, an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability was found in Netgear gaming routers.
The FCC stated only that the Pentagon made “a specific determination” that devices “do not pose risks,” but the exemption agreement is classified under “national security implications.” Netgear's manufacturing remains in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand — with no evidence of a plan to onshore production.
Engadget: “FCC just handed Netgear a de facto router monopoly in the US.” Netgear was the only major brand to publicly praise the ban. Its stock jumped 12-17% when the ban was announced.
The Internet Governance Project called the ban “fake cybersecurity” and “industrial policy” dressed up as national security. Critics note: if this were truly about security, the company with 1,332 known vulnerabilities would not be the one getting the exemption.