Why the U.S. Is Banning New Routers — and What It Means for You

In this episode of Act on Tech, Alex breaks down the new router bans and what they really mean for small businesses, home offices, and everyday users.

Are routers really being banned? Do you need to replace your equipment right now? And more importantly — why is this happening in the first place?

This isn’t just policy for the sake of policy. There have been real security concerns around networking equipment, including the risk of vulnerabilities, unauthorized access, and potential espionage through compromised devices. Alex explains the situation in plain terms — without panic, but without ignoring the reality either.

If your business depends on stable internet, remote access, VoIP, or cloud services, this is a conversation worth having.

For more practical tech insights built for real-world use, keep listening to Act on Tech.

Visit Alex Custom Tech to learn how to build a more resilient IT environment — or reach out when you're ready to take control of your infrastructure.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Are you ready to make technology work for you? Tune in to Act on Tech, the podcast where we break down the latest tech trends and show you how to boost your productivity at home and in your business. So, subscribe to Act On Tech today and visit alexcustomtech.com to see how we can take your business to the next level. That's Act on Tech, your guide to smarter tech for a smarter business. Alex Custom Tech, IT means integrity and trust.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Hi, welcome to Act on Tech where we talk all things technology. I'm Alex of Alex Custom Tech, and today we're going to talk about or we're gonna we're gonna get into something that's been floating around the news and online. And the conversation is router bands. So I'm gonna give you my two cents, and my two cents is years of experience and a understanding of of uh what's going on and how it affects me and you and small businesses and even even residential people. Okay, so we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna take this on and I'm gonna give you my expertise on it. And you can even take it or leave it. You can go with the sense of the sensational news and the conspiracy theories and all this other stuff, or you can be grounded and just know the facts, right? And that's what I'm gonna present you. Uh uh, a well-rounded concept of what's really going on. So when we talk about router bans now, depending on how you've heard it, and you might it might sound like something extreme, right? And you know, like routers are just being banned from out of nowhere, or the government is doing some nefarious things because the government is just always doing the ferocious things. That's not exactly what's happening. If you hear that, that's not exactly what's happening, all right? It's more important, and it's not happening without a reason. So it's very important and more important than the government being nefarious and some conspiracy, but and it's not happening out of a vacuum, it's happening without a reason. So let's define we always define we always try to define our terms, right? That's something that we do here, all right. So let's talk about or let's break down what's going on. So we're gonna talk about um the the FCC, right? And this is pertaining to the to the United States. So if you're listening to another country, you're you might have another variation of this department in your in your country, but in the US we have the FCC, and that's known as the Federal Communication Commission, right? And they maintain something called the covered list, right? And the the covered list is the list of companies and technologies that are considered potential risk to national security. So I don't want to get too much into politics, um but sovereign and boundaries or borders is a thing that countries us always have throughout history. Now we're kind of moving into this globalization thing, and the internet kind of makes that more viable or possible than ever before in history, right? But there is some um unintended consequences for that. Like you know how I my belief is I have a tragic view of the world, and I don't think there is any solution, there's only trade-offs. So globalization, if it should happen the way some people would want it, there's gonna be a trade-off, and the trade-off is gonna be culture. And what I think is important, you might not be thinking important, and that's kind of a class. I'm going off on a tangent, but there is there is um borders and sovereignty, and the US federal government based on this constitution and how it sees liberty and the American dream, if you will, or the American ideals, it wants to protect that. Plus, of course, there's the government, and then there's secrets, and then there's information, and then there's all this other stuff, and company and other countries would like to have an advantage over America or you know, or learn its trade secrets, whether it be government or private entities, and all this other stuff. So there's a lot of there's a lot of things that a country can get by doing espionage, right? So recently, recent certain foreign-made networking equipment, right, including routers, have come under some security situations that includes companies like Huawei and ZTE, these are Chinese companies, right? And you know about America and China, they're little ideological differences, right? So, and to give you a roundabout way about explaining why there's even an issue, it's not just that it's a communist country and it's a capitalist country, so it's it's it's not just that it's way more than that, is it's one superpower trying to maintain its place, and another country try to sub surpass it, and that's what the challenge really is. At the end of the day, that's what it is, right? So that being said, so here's what here's what I want to make very clear about this thing. The decision was not made randomly, right? To like all this band routers, right? And this and this is tied to real world concerns, so it's not like they just decide, oh, I don't like China, so I'm gonna do this. And it's not a partisan thing either. It's not like oh one Donald Trump and Republicans and the conservatives are doing it. I mean, this happened even under the last administration, and these concerns have always been kind of like circling the dream with different different administrations in America. So this is not just one party thing, this is a bipartisan approach. Because I don't know if you remember the whole thing behind I forgot what company was a social media company that the the American Congress entirely was concerned about, it wasn't just one side, it was both. So there is some there's some concerns there, right? So it wasn't just made out of thin air, all right. So that being said, why this is happening and the real reason, right? So it isn't just politics, like I said, it this is just a security thing. So there have been some documented concern, like documented, like things that have happened. I'm gonna tell you about them over the years about network equipment being used as a potential access point to unauthorized remote access, data interception, and surveillance and sp. So, how does that work? So, let's talk about routers for a minute and what a router really is. I think I may have gone over this before. So, there's a couple of names for them. So, there's routers and then there's firewalls, kind of the same thing, right? So, your router sits at what we know as the demarcation of your network. So, your ISP gives you access to the internet and it goes into your modem. They give you a modem, and your modem is plugged into your router. So, your router is what lets your devices on your network leave your network, which is your intranet, to go to the internet, and it routes the traffic because some traffic needs to go outside of your house, and some traffic needs to go, I mean, or not outside of your network, or outside of your LAN, and some traffic needs to stay within your land. So, like, for instance, say on your computer and you want to print a document, and your printer is inside your business, inside the building, when that information or data hits the router and it will, it will just say, Oh, the printer is on this port or the printer is over here, and it would send it to the printer. But when you say I want to go to Google or I want to go to my cloud, it's gonna go hit the router, and it's gonna go to your cloud outside of your lab. And say you make a phone call. If you send it to make a phone call, it's gonna hit the router, right? And it's gonna go out of your router, and then to the intranet. Now, say something is running on your on that router, and it's known as firmware, it's built into your router, it's part of your router, and it's has a back, it has a back door because the manufacturer put one in there, so you can capture pockets that's going through the router, so you can look at it later, right? If he has that capability and it's built into the router, you don't know about it, I don't know about it. That's how you get your espionage, that's how you get your remote control, that's how you get your surveillance, and that's what the problem is. So if a country, i.e. China, where the where this where this where the liberties are are a little bit different than here, where everything is kind of tied to the state. The state can say, yeah, you can make these routers, but you have to put X, Y, and Z into it. Okay, that's what the problem is. You can't so it's so it's not a matter of, and here's why we here's why I can say this is because this has been documented, this has happened. Okay, so now you understand the story. So everything passes through the router, like I explained, email, client data, void calls, remote connection, right? All those go to your router. If the router is compromised, even at the fire at the firmware level, which is what we're talking about, it becomes a silent door into everything that you're doing in your land. So, say you're a lawyer or say, and even government, even government facilities, government defense agencies use these routers. Remember, we talked about before when I talked about um not just getting a router from your ISP, you should try to get a pro zoomer router. Some of these companies that I just list make prosumer routers, so people use them right in their business. So, then you get an idea or we're talking about. So, there have been cases, like I said, of what when vulnerability and questionable software behavior raises concern that certain devices could be exploited, right? Or worse, intentionally designed in a way to allow the backdoor or backdoor behavior, backdoor access, right? Now, to be reasonable here, right? That doesn't mean that every device is spying on you. I don't want you to get panicky now, but it does mean that there's a risk, a real-world risk, about certain companies from certain places could have these devices, and the risk of that happening is too great, if that's a thing. So, and in some cases, historically, like I said, agencies had to take action. So, when they say agency to take action, they're documented cases where this was going on in government agencies in small businesses where the government had to get a subpoena. They have to get a subpoena because that's how our country is, that's how America is. You can't just go into people's private property and just like do stuff because you see a risk, you have to actually get permission to do so. So you have to get a subpoena from the court, then go into someone's router and take over that router or shut that router down, but they'll let you know that they're doing it, and then they'll replace the router, right? But it hasn't happened all across the board, it's just a couple of documented cases, and trust me, these things were also targeted to these people for particular reasons, and the government had to step in. So, given the fact that they know this has happened, and it's a well-documented thing, they say, Okay, let's let's just let's just do this thing instead. So the FCC came up with this approach to eliminate the problem going forward or reduce it, right? Because people are still gonna find some other way to get routers that it shouldn't have, right? So, so again, it isn't coming out of thin air, right? I want you to guys understand that. Right, so what the ban actually means. So, what is the ban really? So, now we tell you why they're doing the ban. So, what really is the ban? Well, the government is shutting off the government not the government shutting off your router or forcing replacement overnight for reason of panic is not true. Okay, that is not what's happening. Let me repeat myself the government shutting off your router, or the government forcing a replacement, or the government overreacting or or are making this because they're panicking is not true, it's absolutely not true, it's not true at all. What it is though, what it is though, is restriction on new equipment up and and an approval process have to take place in for the future sales of routers, right? A long-term move are fears out of these risk key routers, right? A shift towards more trusted industry. So this is not even about oh well US companies are not even like that, because other countries that make routers, as long as they follow the rules set by the FCC, they'll be fine, and even if China, the one that you know Huawei is from, like right, or TP, like right, even if they decide to follow the FCC rules, their router would be back put back into the country. So it's not like there's just rules now, not you just do whatever you want, and we trust you. We're gonna say, Okay, trust but verify. So let's just have these standards, and then when you mail your routers to these standards, then we will let you in. We can you can sell in the US, and that's what it really is at the end of the day, right? Why would that be a problem for anybody? I don't know, but again, that's what it is. So what no what it does to or what what it does not mean. Let's see, this is a bit what it does not mean, it doesn't mean that let's go, let's clear this up really because this is where people get like nervous, and and that's why I wanted to talk about this because I these are like like this kind of topics because it kind of clear the fog, the fog in a sense, where I shy some light on things because I like with the tech community, you you got extreme on both sides, you got like the extreme, you know, open source people now. Ha ha ha ha. That's why I I use Pf Sense, and you have you know people who like you know, oh the government is overreacting, and and and and you can trust China and all this other stuff. Like, you're extreme. You need to have like a middle where you can really look at what's going on again. And and and and this not to go off topic, but everything isn't a conspiracy, and everybody isn't out against you, and you know, you know what I'm saying? So it's it's more nuanced than that, right? So your current router will still work, and you don't have to do anything with your current router, right? To be honest with you, you really don't, and because the people who were targeted, like the defense and and and other people, they they they kind of got that all sorted out now, right? But going forward, they want to make they want to put these things in place, so your current router is fine, but I'm still gonna challenge you in some way with the current routers you have, right? So you're not required to replace anything immediately, right? Definitely you're not okay, and your business is not in danger of becoming some kind of you know policy or anything like that, or being restricted in any way or anything like that, but it does mean you should not ignore it either, right? So, this is information that you can you can get and okay, let me let me make some changes or let me do some inventory and let me check on some things so that I can I can you know be prepared or get ready to be prepared. So, why does this matter for small businesses and why does it matter to me? And before I even go into why it doesn't matter for small businesses, let me kind of explain to you my setup. So I use in for my clients, I use two routers, two brand routers that I use. I use TP Link and I use Unify. So let's talk about the the the the the gateway, so unify as a dream machine, which is my favorite router, and there's also TP Link, which is in my house. TP Link is one of the routers that is in this questionable gray area, right? But not that T P Link is a bad company, the routers are great, but again, because they're from this particular place, they're under scrutiny. Now, TP Link is not, it's not like we're targeting TP Link or we're talking targeting Huawei, we're targeting the other company, just that we have this standard that now TP Link and these other companies have to meet. So if you have a TP Link router from before, you don't really have to get rid of it, it's fine, but going forward, you won't be able to get a TP Link unless they meet these standards. Now, if you have a TP link and you're a little bit uncomfortable, right? Or if you don't know what you have, you want to go looking way up. But let me before I even do that. So my house, which I do most of my work out of, has a TP link as the firewall, right? And I checked into it, it's fine, nothing is wrong with it, but it's coming up to that four to five year time where I need to replace it anyway. So it's gonna be replaced with a dream machine, and because I have a hybrid kind of a network here where I have the router as a TP link, but all the access points and all this other stuff are are are unify equipment, so it would I was gonna do it regardless, but it would make sense just to get the dream machine also, and it's like round out everything with the same brand, but and so I say that to say this like so I use these these routers that was in question too. I'm and I'm I'm SP to told you like oh I never use this line. Okay, we never knew about this stuff until of late. Some people knew about it, some but I mean everybody didn't know about it, and and I heard rumblings about it last year about CPLing, but I never really worried about it too much because I knew that um I knew about the court orders and the subpoenas and that son of stuff. So I'm like, okay, people who are having issues are gonna get they're gonna be notified, right? So that being said, that all that being said you get all that out of the way. Why does it matter for small? Because here's what I want you to pay attention to, kind of like what I just did because of the ban itself, but because not because of the ban itself, but because of what it reveals. See, not because of the band, what it reveals the security question, right? The firmware question, right? Let's Not do things where we put routers or firewalls into her houses or small business or whatever and just leave it there and forget about it, right? Because again, everything goes to the router. So use using whatever the ISP gave you, which I talked to you guys about this one before, definitely not a good idea, right? And never check firmware. I mean, never never check firmware updates. Like we just have a router, it's supposed to be updated, but we don't update it. That's a problem, right? And don't even know what the model is that's running in your network. So people have internet in business. I come across us in business a lot when I say, Hey, so what equipment you're running? I don't know. Um you want to take inventory of what you have. What are the brands? What's your firewall? What's your modem? What's your switch? You know, know what's in there because it might be outdated, it might has it might have uh a vulnerability that we don't know about. If I don't know the model or the name, or you know, I don't know. You I mean I have to go inside the closet and see, and I've come across some really old stuff, right? And again, nothing is wrong with old stuff either in certain environment. Like if like again, I do some things with libraries, and I told you this before. There are libraries that run Windows XP, literally, like it's running Windows XP, and the reason why because the software that that uses the that uses this that catalyze and inventory the books that runs on XP that the Laridos doesn't want to get rid of. But here's the beautiful thing about it, it's not on the internet, so no one can get to it. That's how you use old equipment. I have a lab, I have a now let's switch a hub in my lab. Nobody can get to the hub, so it's fine, it's not connected to the internet, and this is how you you know navigate that. Some so some business, some industries might can get away with that, right? And if for instance, if the router is not connected to the internet, but it's still routing traffic within the line, then it's not a problem. Okay, that being said, so the rest that's the real issue, if I'm gonna be honest with you. So because of because it's vulnerability, right? And we always gonna have vulnerabilities, and we always gonna have that kind of stuff, and that's how we have to have to deal with it. Not that it's reactionary, but you wanna like okay, that's a vulnerability, let me plan accordingly. Okay, you won't know, right? You won't know if it's a vulnerability, you won't know if you have that kind of mindset where you set it and leave it, you'll just take what MSP gives you. You never check this the firmware you you just you don't even know what the model you have. If you if that's what that's how you function, you you're gonna be vulnerable, and you're never gonna know what's going on. Okay, so what I want you to take away from this podcast, right? And if it's long, if it's a long podcast, I'm gonna leave it because I think this is an important topic. So, so here's what I want to recommend simply and practically. That's my approach. I'm approaching it now, and how I want you guys to approach it, or if you have MSP or the call or so, this is how we're gonna approach it. So, know what routers you're using. First of all, key one know what router you're using. Go look now, see what you have as a router or a gateway in your network. Two, make sure it's still getting security updates, right? If this is 10 years ago, you need to change it, right? Avoid knowing avoid unknown and unsupported brands. So, some router with this name you can't recognize, or nobody knows about it. You're gonna buy it because it's cheap. No, don't do that. That's a no-no. Get recon recommended brand or our popular brands routers, right? Go forward now. Of plan to upgrade, which is what I'm doing. Plan to upgrade your network equipment every three to five years. I'll go to five years, right? But every three to five years. If you do this, four things, now you will be fine. This will not be an issue, okay. Alright, start thinking about your network like an infrastructure, which is what how I think about everything, but start thinking about it now, and not just internet access. So you want to think about it. Don't think about can I get to Google? Can I get to TikTok? Can I get to whatever? Think about the internet, but also think about the LAN part quick. What's going on in the network? What is in your network? What is on your line? Is there a printer on your LAN? Is there how many computers are on your line? Um, and then think about what you're sending through your router. Are you making phone calls that are going through your router? Are you sending a lot of emails all the time through your router? That's what I'm talking about. No have an idea of what's going on. Or if you don't want to think about it, by all means call us and we will do it. Right? That's why you need an MSP. Right? I'm still gonna try to get I'm still trying to get used to telling you about Alix Custom Tech so you can call me to have you have me do it. But if it's not me, get an MSP. Get an MSP, get an MSP. Small business owners, get an MSP. This is a prime example of what I'm talking about. Get an MSP, they'll figure this out for you, right? You don't want to be in a situation where that's happening, right? So get an MSP. Right? Have them look in the closet to see what's in there. Have them look in the closet because they'll know they though they know I know by looking in the closet, I'll run tests and I'll run research on equipment and be like, oh, I gotta pull this out right now because this is vulnerable. That's vulnerable, or this has had a potential. I you know, MSP, that's what we do. So in closing, this isn't a panic thing, this is an awareness thing. And the government didn't just wake up and say, Hey, let's decide to ban routers because we don't like China. That's not what's happening, right? It might happen in other things, but not this. And this comes to this comes from real world security issues and real world security concerns. Like I said, there's been documented things with subpoenas and all that stuff that did happen, all right. And in real-world scenarios where network equipment can be used in ways people don't shouldn't be using it, right? I mean, you know, so your job is not to panic, just do what I said before things that I said, and you should be fine, and just be aware. And if you don't want to do it yourself, you can call MSB, call us, or somebody like us, and we'll come in there and do it. Okay? So like I always say, always, always say, stay productive.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

You've been listening to Act on Tech, powered by Alex Custom Tech. We help small businesses take control of their technology with secure networks, reliable backups, and systems designed to run without interruption. No guesswork, no quick fixes, just IT that works the way it should. For business services and professional camera installations, visit alexcustomtech.com. Stay connected, stay secure, and stay in control. This is Abby from Polyvinyl 97 FM saying thank you for listening to Act on Tech. And we'll see you next Wednesday, same time, same place.