Which routers are on the FCC Covered List?
The FCC Covered List reaches routers produced in a foreign country. The determination behind the entry covers consumer-grade networking devices that are primarily intended for residential use and can be installed by the customer. The FCC reads that to include small and medium-sized business routers sold or rented through retail and self-installable by end users, ISP-provided residential gateways that combine modem and router functions, and LTE and 5G customer premises equipment for residential use. Its FAQ places enterprise, industrial and military equipment outside it. A router model that already holds an FCC authorization can still be imported, sold and used. A new foreign-produced model cannot be authorized without a Conditional Approval.
What counts as a router
Which devices count as routers on the FCC Covered List?
The FCC follows the National Security Determination of March 20, 2026. It defines routers by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Internal Report 8425A “to include consumer-grade networking devices that are primarily intended for residential use and can be installed by the customer.” In the same definition, routers “forward data packets, most commonly Internet Protocol (IP) packets, between networked systems.”
The FCC’s FAQ treats five kinds of device as routers under the determination: consumer or small and medium-sized business routers sold or rented through retail and self-installable by end users; consumer-grade portable or mobile MiFi Wi-Fi or hotspot devices for residential use; LTE and 5G customer premises equipment for residential use; residential routers installed by a professional or an internet service provider; and residential gateways that combine modem and router functions.
The entry names no makes or models. Routers that receive a Conditional Approval appear on the Conditional Approvals tab of the FCC’s Covered List. The Register tracks each grant with its termination date.
Source: National Security Determination on the Threat Posed by Routers Produced by Foreign Countries, March 20, 2026; FCC Public Notice DA 26-278, March 23, 2026; FCC Covered List FAQs on routers produced in foreign countries, updated May 12, 2026, read October 28, 2026.
Are enterprise, industrial and military routers on the Covered List?
The FCC’s FAQ places industrial, enterprise and military equipment outside the router entry, among the devices it lists as not consumer-grade routers under the determination. A small or medium-sized business router sold or rented through retail and self-installable by end users is inside the entry.
Routers of any grade produced by Huawei or ZTE, or by their subsidiaries and affiliates, are on the Covered List regardless, under those companies’ own entries of March 12, 2021.
The FCC says it applies no list of indicators, totality-of-circumstances test or layer-based criteria apart from NIST IR 8425A. For further guidance it points to the report’s Appendix C, on consumer-grade acquisition scenarios.
Source: FCC Covered List FAQs on routers produced in foreign countries, updated May 12, 2026, read October 28, 2026; FCC Public Notice DA 26-278, March 23, 2026, Appendix A.
Are ISP gateways, fiber ONTs, 5G home internet devices and hotspots covered?
ISP-provided residential gateways that combine modem and router functions in a single device “fall within the scope of the determination,” the FCC’s FAQ states. LTE and 5G customer premises equipment for residential use is inside the entry. So are consumer-grade portable or mobile hotspot devices for residential use.
The FAQ places optical network terminals outside the determination, together with femtocells, analog telephone adapters that include Ethernet LAN and WAN ports, and mobile phones with hotspot features. It does not address an ONT that also routes. On October 23, 2026, the FCC announced a Conditional Approval for Alpha Networks’ XGSPON ONT 1000 series router.
Source: FCC Covered List FAQs on routers produced in foreign countries, updated May 12, 2026, read October 28, 2026; FCC Public Notice DA 26-1154, October 23, 2026.
Where a router is produced
Is a router designed in the United States but built abroad covered?
A router counts as produced in a foreign country whether it is designed or built abroad. The determination states that production “generally includes any major stage of the process through which the device is made, including manufacturing, assembly, design, and development.” The FCC’s FAQ applies that both ways and adds that the nationality of the companies producing a router is not relevant.
A router produced in the United States is not covered equipment solely because it contains foreign-made components, the FCC’s FAQ states. Two kinds of component still bar its authorization under 47 CFR § 2.903(b): a covered modular transmitter, and, since October 13, 2026, a logic-bearing hardware component produced by an entity the Covered List names, where the router would be barred had that entity produced it. How the component rule reaches routers is answered on the Covered List FAQ. Why the router entry sets no domestic content test is answered on How a product qualifies as a domestic end product.
Source: National Security Determination on the Threat Posed by Routers Produced by Foreign Countries, March 20, 2026; FCC Covered List FAQs on routers produced in foreign countries, updated May 12, 2026, read October 28, 2026; 47 CFR §§ 2.903(b), 15.212; FCC 26-50, 91 FR 57798, effective October 13, 2026.
Routers already on the market
Can foreign-produced routers authorized before the listing still be imported and sold?
The FCC’s FAQ states that foreign-produced routers that have previously received FCC authorization, “as shown by the FCC ID on the device,” may continue to be imported, sold and used in the United States. Their use is not restricted. Consumers using covered routers in small and home offices do not need to do anything.
A recipient of an FCC-administered subsidy for capital expenditures may not use it to buy or maintain equipment on the Covered List from 60 days after the listing. For routers that date was May 22, 2026. The rule is answered on the Federal FAQ.
A foreign-produced router that has no authorization cannot obtain one without a Conditional Approval. Until it does, it may not be imported or sold, apart from the development imports and federal-use sales answered below. What a Conditional Approval’s end date means for a model is answered on Conditional Approval.
The FCC can limit the import and marketing of previously authorized covered equipment. It did so for entries added to the list in 2024 or earlier, effective July 16, 2026. Routers, added in 2026, are outside that ban. Which equipment it reaches is answered at What importers must do about the FCC Covered List.
Source: FCC Covered List FAQs on routers produced in foreign countries, updated May 12, 2026, read October 28, 2026; FCC Public Notice DA 26-278, March 23, 2026; 47 CFR §§ 2.939(e), 54.10; FCC Public Notice DA 26-635, 91 FR 41023, July 6, 2026.
Can a covered router still be repaired or have parts replaced?
The Covered List rules do not prohibit repairs of already-authorized routers that consumers currently possess, according to the FCC’s FAQ. They do not prohibit replacing component parts with identical parts installed in already-authorized devices, either.
Software and firmware updates and hardware changes are answered at Can I change a covered product that was already authorized? on the Covered List FAQ.
Source: FCC Covered List FAQs on routers produced in foreign countries, updated May 12, 2026, read October 28, 2026.
Makers, importers and buyers
Can a company that produces routers abroad still use the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity process?
A company that produces routers abroad can still use the process for its devices that are not covered. When it added the entry, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau said the listing “will not implicate various rules and programs applicable to entities ‘identified’ on the Covered List, because this newly-covered equipment is identified by place of production, not by entity.”
An entity identified on the Covered List is generally barred from that process, even for devices that are not covered. A newly covered router cannot be authorized through it.
Source: FCC Public Notice DA 26-278, March 23, 2026; 47 CFR §§ 2.906(d), 2.907(c); FCC Covered List FAQs on routers produced in foreign countries, updated May 12, 2026, read October 28, 2026.
Can a router maker import unauthorized units for product development?
Small batches may come in solely for product development, provided they are not marketed or sold, the FCC’s FAQ says. The rule it cites, 47 CFR § 2.1204(a)(3), allows up to 4,000 units of each model for testing and evaluation to determine compliance with the FCC’s rules, product development, or suitability for marketing. The devices may not be offered for sale or marketed. A larger number needs written approval from the Chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology before the units are imported.
Source: 47 CFR § 2.1204(a)(3), as of October 27, 2026; FCC Covered List FAQs on routers produced in foreign countries, updated May 12, 2026, read October 28, 2026.
Does the router entry stop sales to the federal government?
The Covered List does not restrict the import or sale of routers for the exclusive use of the federal government, the FCC’s FAQ states. Federal procurement law is a separate question. Section 889 questions are answered on the Federal FAQ.
Source: FCC Covered List FAQs on routers produced in foreign countries, updated May 12, 2026, read October 28, 2026.
Engagements and fees
What does a router Conditional Approval filing cost?
A Conditional Approval filing for a single model is $95,000 to $125,000, staged 40/30/15/15. It covers the ownership and corporate-structure record, the supply-chain disclosure, the US manufacturing plan, and agency correspondence through grant. Gatewell accepts a limited number of filing engagements each year.
A product family is $150,000 to $300,000, with per-model additions. One evidentiary core carries multiple models, with staged additions as the line evolves.
For buyers of routers and customer premises equipment, vendor-bench diligence across a supplier portfolio is $15,000 to $50,000. It is priced per vendor, at $5,000 for documentary review or $7,500 with independent supplier confirmations.
The Covered-List Exposure Diagnostic is fixed at $7,500 to $15,000 and takes two weeks.
The full schedule is at Services.
Talk to Gatewell
Bring the router’s FCC ID if it has one, where each stage of its production takes place, and its bill of materials. The first engagement is the Covered-List Exposure Diagnostic, a fixed $7,500 to $15,000 over two weeks.