Your Remote Workers' Home Routers Are Now Officially a National Security Threat — FCC Compliance Playbook

The FCC banned all new foreign-made consumer routers from receiving equipment authorization effective March 23, 2026. The ruling cites Volt, Flax, and Salt Typhoon — three state-sponsored cyberattack campaigns that weaponized consumer routers against US critical infrastructure. This isn't like the Huawei/ZTE bans. This is categorical — every router produced outside the United States, regardless of manufacturer. A router designed by a US company but assembled in Taiwan is treated the same as one built in Shenzhen. The punchline for infrastructure engineers: Enterprise gear (Cisco ISR/Catalyst, Arista, Juniper) is exempt. But every remote worker connecting to your network through a consumer router is now using a device the US government officially classifies as a national security risk. The Supply Chain Numbers China and Taiwan produce 60–75% of routers sold in the US market. Domestic production sits at roughly 10%. Virtually every major brand is affected: Brand Manufacturing Location St