TP-Link, the company behind an estimated 35% of the home routers sold in the United States, still cannot get clearance to sell new router models in the US — and the gap between it and its rivals keeps growing. In an update to its router guide published on November 7, Wired reported that Netgear, Amazon’s eero and Asus have all secured the FCC exemption needed to keep launching new hardware, while TP-Link has so far been unsuccessful. Its newest flagship, the Wi-Fi 8 Archer 8 Ultra, is already seeing limited availability in the US as a result.
For smart home owners, this is not a distant regulatory story. The router is the foundation every smart device in the house depends on — the hub that connects your cameras, locks, lights and speakers to the internet and to each other. A freeze on new models from the market’s biggest brand will shape what you can buy, and at what price, for years.
The ban, explained
In March 2026, the FCC added foreign-produced consumer routers to its Covered List, the federal register of equipment deemed a national security risk. The move followed an Executive Branch national security determination about foreign-produced routers and supply-chain risk, and it was announced on March 23, 2026.
The rule does not ban routers outright. It blocks FCC equipment authorization — the approval every radio-emitting device needs before it can be imported, marketed or sold in the US — for new foreign-produced consumer router models, unless the manufacturer first wins a Conditional Approval from the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security. To get one, a company must disclose its corporate structure, including any foreign government influence, provide a detailed breakdown of its supply chain, and submit a time-bound plan to expand or establish manufacturing in the United States.
Crucially, the ban only covers new models. Routers already in American homes are unaffected, and models that were already authorized can continue to be sold. The FCC also extended a waiver allowing already-authorized routers to keep receiving software and firmware updates until at least January 1, 2029, so the router you already own will not suddenly stop getting security patches.
Who has approval — and who does not
Several major brands have cleared the bar. According to FCC public notices:
- Netgear — Conditional Approval for its Orbi and Nighthawk consumer router families, from April 14, 2026 to October 1, 2027.
- eero (Amazon) — Conditional Approval for its router families from April 22, 2026 to October 31, 2027, covering eero devices and Amazon’s Leo routers.
- Asus — Conditional Approval from September 9, 2026 to March 6, 2028, covering its RT, ROG, TUF Gaming, ExpertWiFi, ZenWiFi Mesh and 5G MiFi lines.
Other companies, including Adtran, Calix and Nokia, have also secured conditional waivers, according to Light Reading’s tracking. The approvals are time-limited — Netgear’s expires in October 2027, for example — so even the winners will have to come back for renewal.
TP-Link, meanwhile, is still waiting. The company filed for Conditional Approval for a pair of Wi-Fi 8 routers back in April, arguing that TP-Link Systems — headquartered in Irvine, California — is an American company. As of this month, the waiver still has not come.
TP-Link’s billion-dollar answer
TP-Link has responded with money and manufacturing. In an October 13 filing with the FCC, the company pledged nearly $1 billion in US-based research and manufacturing investment. On October 19, TP-Link Systems signed a letter of intent with Key Tronic to build its next generation of Wi-Fi 8 routers at Key Tronic’s plant in Corinth, Mississippi, which already employs about 420 people making circuit boards and electronics. Domestic assembly could start as early as 2027, according to TP-Link, pending regulatory sign-off.
But the company’s path hit a new obstacle in October. Bloomberg reported that the FCC sent TP-Link two letters dated October 15 saying the agency had “tentatively determined that TP-Link included false or incorrect information in its applications” for four router models, and that three of those models exceeded power limits during testing. TP-Link was given until October 30 to respond with documentation, with the FCC telling it to include the agency’s national security team.
The episode is the latest chapter in a long-running standoff. The US Commerce, Defense and Justice departments are investigating TP-Link, according to The Wall Street Journal, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the company in February, claiming it allows the Chinese Communist Party to access American consumers’ devices. No evidence of deliberate wrongdoing has yet emerged. TP-Link president Jeff Barney has said the company is cooperating with the investigation, that its supply chain is transparent, that its manufacturing is in Vietnam rather than China, and that the US business is headquartered in California after splitting from TP-Link Technologies, which focuses on mainland China.
What it means for your smart home
First, the reassuring part: nothing changes for the router you already have. Your existing TP-Link router — or any other brand’s — keeps working, keeps getting sold where it is already authorized, and keeps receiving firmware and security updates until at least January 1, 2029. TP-Link itself says its existing routers remain authorized, supported and updated. There is no reason to rip out a working router over this.
Second, the choice of new routers will narrow. With TP-Link unable to bring new models to the US market, the pipeline of fresh hardware will increasingly come from the brands that hold approvals — Netgear, eero and Asus — plus any others that clear the process. Wired’s updated guide reflects the shift: its pick for most people is now the Asus RT-BE58U, at a $145 list price, and its best Wi-Fi 8 router is the Asus ROG Rapture BN98 Pro at $900. TP-Link’s Archer BE230 remains its budget pick at $120, and the Archer BE3600 recently fell to $79.98 on Amazon — but both are existing models, not new launches.
Third, the new-flagship gap is already visible. Wired tested TP-Link’s tri-band Wi-Fi 8 Archer 8 Ultra — a £900 tower that performed well in the UK — but noted that availability in the US is limited right now because the company has not won Conditional Approval. If you were waiting for TP-Link’s next-generation hardware, the wait is now measured in regulatory decisions, not product cycles.
Finally, expect prices to feel the squeeze. Fewer new models from the market’s biggest seller means less competition at the top end, and the brands with approvals have little incentive to discount. If your current router is aging, buying a well-reviewed existing model now — while authorized stock is plentiful and discounted — is a better bet than waiting for a new TP-Link launch that may not arrive.
What to watch next
The near-term questions are straightforward: whether TP-Link’s October 30 response to the FCC satisfies the agency, whether its Mississippi manufacturing plan moves fast enough to change the calculation, and whether the conditional approvals held by Netgear and eero get renewed when they expire in late 2027. Longer term, the same Covered List logic has already been extended to foreign-produced advanced robotic devices — a category that sweeps in robot vacuums from Roborock, Dreame and Ecovacs — so the router fight may be a preview of wider disruption for the smart home. The router is where the smart home starts; what happens to it next will ripple through every device connected to it.