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.
Under the new router ban, the Trump administration decides—through an opaque process in which it’s unclear why any particular company receives an exemption—which companies’ devices can be sold to consumers. Netgear, which is based in the US, was able to move quickly through the multi-agency approval process.
