Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav TP-Link yesterday announced plans to assemble Wi-Fi routers in the US, as the company attempts to get the Trump administration’s approval to sell its newest routers to American consumers. The timing is uncertain, as TP-Link’s press release said it expects US-based assembly to begin “as early as” 2027. TP-Link’s application to sell new routers in the US could be rejected by the Trump administration or remain pending long enough to push the US-based assembly to 2028. “Pending US regulatory approval, TP-Link expects domestic assembly of its groundbreaking Wi-Fi 8 home networking product line to begin as early as next year,” the company said. TP-Link said it signed a Letter of Intent with US company Keytronic, which agreed “to become a primary domestic manufacturing partner for TP-Link, supporting assembly of the company’s advanced networking portfolio in Corinth, Mississippi.” TP-Link can’t sell its Wi-Fi 8 routers in the US because of the Federal Communications Commission ban on consumer-grade routers produced wholly or partly in other countries.
Previous TP-Link routers that were already approved for import and sale are still available. What counts as a US router is unclear The FCC has given exemptions to a number of prominent router makers, but TP-Link’s history as a Chinese company is making it difficult to obtain FCC clearance. Founded in China in 1996, TP-Link moved its headquarters to California in October 2024. It says that “TP-Link Systems devices sold in the US are manufactured in Vietnam and TP-Link Systems is an independent, US company that is not owned or controlled by any foreign government.” While TP-Link assembles routers in Vietnam, most of the components are reportedly imported from China.
TP-Link’s plan to assemble routers in the US will still require it to import components, but the company hopes investment in the US will help it gain the Trump administration’s favor. While the FCC is urging router makers to move more of their operations to the US, a TP-Link official said the government has provided no clear guidance on how much US manufacturing is enough to obtain an exemption from the foreign router ban. “There are no published guidelines that say, ‘Well, it could be 25 percent US, or it could be 15 percent US,’” TP-Link corporate affairs officer Steve Kovsky told PCMag. Kovsky said that many components “are just not available from a domestic source, and this is not a TP-Link issue. This is an issue for all manufacturers that are trying to onshore manufacturing.” In a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and the agency’s commissioners last week, Kovsky said TP-Link is proposing “a nearly $1 billion investment in America that would result in equipping existing US factories, and ultimately building new, highly automated manufacturing facilities, to start assembling next-generation Wi-Fi 8 routers in the United States as soon as next year, creating hundreds of new jobs.” TP-Link struggles to convince Trump admin TP-Link’s letter said it will make the proposed investment if it receives approval to sell Wi-Fi 8 routers in the US. “This investment would build upon TP-Link’s existing US footprint, which includes a global headquarters in Irvine, Calif., and more than 700 US employees,” TP-Link told the FCC. “As part of this investment, TP-Link would begin assembling these Wi-Fi 8 devices in the United States by next year, and the devices will incorporate software and firmware developed, written, and stored in the United States by TP-Link’s US engineering organization.” The FCC isn’t the only agency that TP-Link has to convince.
The FCC process for issuing exemptions from the ban requires each router maker to first obtain a determination from the Department of Defense or Department of Homeland Security that its devices do not pose national security risks. Router makers that received exemptions so far include Netgear, Asus, Adtran, Amazon and its Eero subsidiary, Calix, Nokia, SpaceX’s Starlink division, and others. TP-Link urged the Trump administration to ensure that its “reviewers fairly apply the same consistent review standards to TP-Link as have been applied to all other applicants.” TP-Link’s 2024 move to the US came amid investigations into high-profile attacks linked to the Chinese government, including a botnet composed mostly of TP-Link routers. The Russian GRU also compromised TP-Link routers to steal information, US intelligence agencies said in April 2026.
TP-Link is far from the only router maker with security problems. For example, so-called AirSnitch attacks described in research this year were reported to work on routers made by Netgear, D-Link, Ubiquiti, Cisco, and those running DD-WRT and OpenWrt. Republican AGs urge FCC to stand firm TP-Link’s letter to the FCC last week said its application for an exemption provides “complete responses” to questions about its corporate structure and manufacturing and supply chain. “TP-Link prioritizes the security of US consumer networking data; user data processed by TP-Link’s US products is encrypted and housed on Amazon Web Services infrastructure in Virginia,” the company said. “And of course, TP-Link does not, and will not, share customer network data with foreign governments or unauthorized third parties.” TP-Link also faces opposition from Republican state attorneys general. The AGs from Florida, Montana, Iowa, and Nebraska sued TP-Link this month, alleging that it lied to consumers about its connections to China and the risks of its routers being exploited by Chinese state hackers.
A group of 21 Republican state AGs then sent a letter to the FCC questioning TP-Link’s claims regarding router security and the company’s independence from China. The letter urged the FCC to require remedies for “past and ongoing state-law violations” in its review of TP-Link’s application and to protect router users “from exploitation by the Chinese Communist Party.” Jon Brodkin Senior IT Reporter Jon Brodkin Senior IT Reporter 15 Comments
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