Netgear wins first U.S. approval to keep selling foreign-made routers

Netgear has become the first retail consumer router company to receive conditional approval from the Federal Communications Commission exempting it from the agency's ban on foreign-made routers, the company disclosed in an SEC filing April 14.

Under the terms disclosed in the filing, Netgear can introduce new consumer router models and push software updates to existing devices through Oct. 1, 2027. According to Gizmodo, the exemption spans a broad range of product families, among them the Nighthawk and Orbi lines — covering mesh, mobile, and standalone variants — along with cable gateways and cable modems.

For competing brands that have not secured conditional approval, the practical consequence is a cutoff on software updates for existing devices once March 1, 2027 arrives — yet routers already on store shelves or in warehouses can continue to be sold without restriction, the SEC filing noted.

"As a U.S. founded and headquartered company, Netgear is aligned with the vision for a more secure digital future for our customers," CEO CJ Prober said in a statement to customers. The company said it has operated in the consumer router category for 30 years.

One condition of the FCC's approval pathway is that applicants must present a plan to move at least some production to American soil. Yet Netgear's own website lists Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand as its current manufacturing locations, with no mention of any onshoring commitment. Reporters at both Gizmodo and Engadget said they sought comment from Netgear specifically on this point and had not received a response at the time of publication.

In March 2026, the FCC extended its Covered List — which catalogs communications hardware the agency considers a national security threat — to encompass all consumer routers manufactured outside the United States. The agency cited supply chain vulnerabilities and pointed to the Volt, Flax, and Salt Typhoon cyberattacks in 2024 and 2025, incidents the U.S. government linked to individuals acting on behalf of the Chinese government. Any company wishing to introduce a new router built abroad must now go through the FCC's conditional approval process to gain clearance for the U.S. market.

Domestic production of consumer routers is essentially nonexistent — brands such as Amazon $AMZN's Eero, Alphabet $GOOGL's Google Nest, Cisco $CSCO, Linksys, and Asustek all rely on overseas factories. TP-Link Systems, among the highest-volume router manufacturers in the world, moved its corporate base to Irvine, California, though it originated in China.

Netgear stock climbed as much as 16.7% in post-market trading following the original FCC announcement in March.