FCC exempts Netgear from ban on foreign routers, doesn’t explain why

Photo: Netgear’s Nighthawk RS600, RS500, and RS200 routers introduced in 2024. Photo credit: Netgear. Article by Jon Brodkin. Ars Technica – April 15, 2026.

Netgear is the first major vendor of consumer routers to obtain an exemption from the US government’s sweeping ban on foreign-made routers. The Federal Communications Commission yesterday announced an exemption for Netgear’s Nighthawk and Orbi routers, and its cable gateways and modems. It came about three weeks after the FCC said it would no longer approve consumer-grade routers made at least partly outside the US, except in cases where the Department of Defense or Department of Homeland Security determines that the router does not pose national security risks. […]

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