You'll Subscribe to Your Router, Too | The First Router Bribes Are Here

0:00 The sale of new routers is effectively banned in the United States.

0:03 And there are some interesting links as to why that might be the case.

0:06 The FCC halted the sale of new foreignade

0:09 consumer router models to the US in the supposed

0:12 name of national security and in a move

0:14 that might further consolidate power to the internet service providers.

0:18 ISPs have moved increasingly to requiring

0:20 router rentals as part of providing internet,

0:23 ensuring that you pay every month forever for your router.

0:26 Not all of them have done this yet,

0:28 but it's something that we've seen starting to roll out,

0:30 including for some of the people on our team

0:33 who have been forced to rent routers.

0:35 But that's not the only problem here.

0:36 The US government doesn't seem to have a plan

0:38 for where we're going to get our routers.

0:41 Currently, the US doesn't make any, except maybe Starlink,

0:44 helmed by government contractor and man who cheats at Diablo, Elon Musk,

0:49 who just so happens to be running ads against stories

0:52 about how the FCC just banned his competition from the market.

0:56 The end result is that routers will almost definitely become more expensive.

0:59 Ironically, security will probably become worse

1:02 because there'll be fewer newer advancements, less innovation for consumers,

1:06 and there's also less of a reason to update old models,

1:10 which are currently the only models that can continue to sell in the US market.

1:14 Over time, companies naturally update their old products less.

1:18 Technically, there are ways to get exemptions.

1:20 Like while we were editing this video, the FCC granted many of Nectar's

1:23 routers conditional approval after the company spent,

1:26 you'll never guess it, 560 grand lobbying the US government since 2023.

1:31 An action with some shady background that seems

1:34 maybe anti-competitive that we'll look at in this video.

1:37 As for the US, it hasn't made routers for over 24 years.

1:41 And the NSA came in just last week to tell everyone to update their routers.

1:45 Definitely not so they can force push an update to spy on you through them.

1:49 That is, just to be clear,

1:50 that is definitely not why the NSA said you should update your routers.

1:56 That is not the reason.

1:57 It is not because the NSA wants to be the one with the back door in them.

2:02 This the the Russians or the Chinese or the North Koreans.

2:06 That's the reason.

2:08 Most recently, the US indicated that the ban also, to quote the register,

2:12 quote, extends to portable Wi-Fi hotspot

2:15 devices that provide internet access almost anywhere.

2:18 End quote.

2:19 So, in addition to portable hotspots,

2:21 which classically might be considered a different

2:23 type of device from just a router,

2:26 this could also feasibly include phones under the definition

2:29 of routers because they can also be hotspots.

2:32 This regulation has the potential to be so sweeping as to include nearly

2:36 any device that can connect another device to the internet in some form.

2:40 Aside from the fact that one of these things basically

2:43 can be the eye to everything you do on the internet,

2:45 which would be useful for the government to control,

2:47 the FCC maintains a covered list of equipment that it deems a security risk.

2:52 On March 23rd, 2026, it updated its covered list to include, quote,

2:56 "Routers produced in a foreign country except routers which have

2:59 been granted a conditional approval by DOW or DHS." End quote.

3:03 Virtually all consumer routers are made outside the United States,

3:06 even those by US-based companies.

3:09 US residents can keep using existing routers and buying inventory that's already

3:13 in the country or old product models

3:15 that companies decide to continue to import.

3:17 But that'll only go as long as inventory continues to exist

3:20 and as long as these companies decide to keep selling the old stuff here.

3:24 As the EFF notes, and we agree,

3:26 this could make consumers more vulnerable, not less.

3:29 So, new routers with the newer hardware

3:30 and software security features and with just

3:32 better speeds and higher speed ports will

3:35 without an exemption be banned from import.

3:38 And existing routers, existing models can continue to be sold,

3:42 but they'll slowly lose access to updates over time.

3:46 And likewise, you don't need to look far to see why that matters.

3:50 ASUS had a severe security vulnerability that turned its routers into a botnet.

3:55 TPLink was targeted by Russian state sponsored hackers.

3:59 And Cisco has a running list of security advisories like all these companies,

4:03 but plenty of them affect routers and networking devices.

4:06 Being made in the US doesn't magically make these risks disappear.

4:10 This is all happening after the Trump administration

4:12 cut a thousand jobs from federal cyber security work.

4:15 And while the Trump admin is trying to cut cyber security funding weeks

4:19 ago pitching a $77 million cut

4:22 to the Cyber Security Infrastructure Security Agency,

4:25 this would reduce the AY's budget to just $2 billion annually,

4:28 down from $2.5 billion last year.

4:31 To put that into perspective,

4:32 that's just 2.8 days of Nvidia's revenue for a quarter

4:36 spent on the entirety of the federal government's cyber security agency.

4:41 The NSA urged in the past week

4:43 for everyone to reboot routers for security updates.

4:45 comes at a suspicious time when the government

4:47 is increasingly in bed with companies like Flock,

4:50 Rain and Palunteer to build what we think is a global surveillance apparatus.

4:54 This router ban is poised to set the stage for mass surveillance via

4:58 potential government back doors and mirrors

5:01 what the US constantly claims China does.

5:04 State approved vendors going through government selection processes.

5:07 And all of this is going to affect consumers in a lot of ways.

5:10 I mean, it'll be obviously options and choice and access to innovation,

5:14 technology, and generally things getting better, but also security and price.

5:21 This stuff's probably going to cost more in the US going forward,

5:24 and that's going to be on older models.

5:26 So, the move is helmed by none other than FCC chair Brendan Carr,

5:31 whom we'll talk about in this, and we think companies like Starlink

5:35 and the ISPs potentially stand to benefit a lot from this action.

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6:19 The FCC explained its reasoning behind this rash move.

6:22 The FCC wrote that foreignade routers

6:24 quote pose unacceptable risks to the national

6:26 security of the United States or the safety and security of US people.

6:30 Routers produced abroad were directly implicated in the Volt, Flax,

6:33 and Salt Typhoon cyber attacks, which targeted critical American communications,

6:37 energy, transportation, and water infrastructure.

6:40 End quote.

6:40 Now, that might sound like a different cyber

6:42 attack that we know about called data centers.

6:46 This was the energy and the the water and the but that one's okay because money.

6:53 There's only one problem with this reasoning,

6:56 which is that the only reason American routers weren't

6:59 implicated in these cyber attacks is because there are none.

7:06 It's that's literally the only reason.

7:08 The FCC said that it's because the US shouldn't be quote dependent

7:12 on any outside power for core components

7:14 necessary to the nation's defense or economy.

7:17 One of these core components that is necessary

7:19 to both our nation's defense and economy is routers.

7:22 Allowing routers produced abroad to dominate

7:24 the US market creates unacceptable economic,

7:27 national security, and cyber security risks.

7:29 End quote.

7:30 US Representative Molinar,

7:31 chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic

7:33 Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party,

7:36 that's the name of the committee, praised the move and wrote,

7:38 quote, "Today's tremendous decision by the FCC

7:41 and the Trump administration protects our country against China's

7:44 relentless cyber attacks and makes it clear

7:46 that these devices should be excluded from our critical infrastructure.

7:49 Routers are key to keeping us all connected,

7:51 and we cannot allow Chinese technology to be at the center of that." End quote.

7:55 Except, first of all, that's the wrong country.

7:58 A lot of these routers actually come from Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

8:03 A lot of the companies are headquartered in Taiwan.

8:06 But okay, secondly, this pulls the routers

8:09 under direct supervision of the US government,

8:12 and it's really just a different flavor of surveillance at that point,

8:16 if that's the accusation.

8:18 At the tip of the spear is FCC chairman and South Park co-star Brendan Carr.

8:22 Carr was famously mired in controversy around

8:25 free speech with allegations that he was

8:27 trying to threaten network broadcasters over what

8:30 late night talk show hosts had been saying.

8:32 So, I hate to say this, but ensuring

8:33 broadcasters are operating quote in the public interest.

8:37 I don't believe that means ensuring that no one on TV uh is

8:41 ever mean to the president or says something the president may not like.

8:46 It doesn't help that car was recorded saying things like this.

8:49 I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.

8:52 these companies can find ways to change conduct to take action frankly uh

8:57 on Kimmel or you know there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.

9:02 Carr previously served as an adviser to Ajet Pi

9:05 former FCC chairman infamous for the repeal of net neutrality.

9:08 Pi's actions enabled ISPs to throttle block and effectively modulate

9:13 performance of the internet based on how you used it.

9:15 And remember ISPs spend millions of dollars lobbying every year.

9:19 and ISPs benefit from you renting your routers.

9:22 Back in 2024, the Biden administration

9:25 considered banning Chinese founded company TP Link,

9:28 which according to the Wall Street Journal accounts for 65%

9:31 of home and small business routers in the US.

9:34 Biden's administration also oversaw the banning

9:36 of computer cooling manufacturer Deepcool.

9:39 The US has been relatively banhappy

9:41 across multiple recent administrations is the point.

9:44 TP Link was also sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over

9:49 allegations that it allowed quote the CCP to access American consumers devices.

9:54 End quote.

9:55 The Attorney General put out a press release that said

9:57 quote TPLink's products have been used by the People's

10:01 Republic of China's PRC's state sponsored hacking entities

10:05 to launch multiple cyber attack operations against the United States.

10:09 Further, TPLink's ownership and supply chain are tied to China.

10:13 Through these ties, TPLink is subject to the PRC's national data laws,

10:17 which require Chinese citizens and firms to support

10:20 PRC intelligence services by dulging Americans data.

10:23 End quote.

10:24 So, by that logic, apparently, sadly,

10:26 the difference has become not whether a government has access to your data,

10:31 but which one and which one you prefer.

10:34 I will say it's sort of silly to say that TPLink supply

10:38 chain has ties to China as if that's some some big gotcha moment.

10:43 Like probably basically literally everything in that attorney general's own

10:49 home has ties to a supply chain somewhere in China.

10:53 But okay, it's just kind of a broad thing to be like it has ties

10:58 to that the this MOSFET came from China

11:01 and the capacitor was China or China adjacent.

11:05 TPLink was founded in Shenzhen, China, but is now headquartered in California.

11:10 Its US product manufacturing has been in Vietnam since 2018.

11:13 The company says it doesn't sell products to mainland China.

11:16 According to the Times of India,

11:18 TPLink CEO and his wife have also applied for permanent

11:22 residency in the United States through Trump's gold card program.

11:26 We're gonna say bribe,

11:29 no gift political contribution to gain entry to the country.

11:35 And that gets to the heart of these bans.

11:37 The way around it seems to effectively be bribes,

11:42 sorry, political contributions.

11:44 The FCC's fact sheet elaborates, quote,

11:46 "Foreign-Made consumer grade routers are prohibited from receiving

11:49 FCC authorization and are therefore prohibited from being imported

11:52 for use or sale in the US." This update

11:55 to the covered list does not prohibit the import,

11:58 sale, or use of any existing device models the FCC previously authorized.

12:02 End quote.

12:03 The FCC also wrote, quote, "All routers authorized for use in the United

12:07 States may continue to receive software and firmware

12:09 updates that mitigate harm to US consumers

12:12 at least until March 1st, 2027." End quote.

12:15 So, existing models will remain allowed, but these companies will of course want

12:19 to move past the existing models to implement

12:21 things like hardware security features and software

12:24 security features and just better product features.

12:28 not just you know RGB routers but maybe like 25 gigabit

12:33 or something starts to become more popular one day that becomes

12:36 limited here and uh they won't want to maintain the current

12:40 models forever especially for patches and updates and so we may

12:44 fall behind other markets technologically but if they want products made

12:47 in the US this doesn't do it at some point almost

12:51 everything comes from China all the way down the supply chain

12:55 phosphorus Cyber Security and Omnia Research have both spoken into this matter.

12:59 Router manufacturers can apply for limited 18-month conditional approvals,

13:03 which requires disclosure of a router's components,

13:06 origins, production, and supply chain risks.

13:09 But with this ruling, we noticed that even the decades old definition of what

13:13 a router is and what it does is apparently up for debate,

13:18 not by the companies, but by the US government.

13:21 Cisco defines a router as a device

13:23 that quote receives and sends data on computer networks.

13:26 Routers are sometimes confused with network hubs, modems, or network switches.

13:31 However, routers can combine the functions of these components and connect

13:35 with these devices to improve internet access or help create business networks.

13:39 End quote.

13:39 Wikipedia narrows it further.

13:41 Quote, a router is connected to two

13:43 or more data lines from different IP networks.

13:46 When a data packet comes in on a line,

13:48 the router reads the network address information

13:50 in the packet header to determine the ultimate destination.

13:53 End quote.

13:54 We noticed though that the FCC made

13:56 its definition of routers a lot more open-ended,

13:59 which allows it to make its bands more open-ended.

14:01 The FCC describes them as quote consumer grade networking devices that are

14:06 primarily intended for residential use and can be installed by the customer.

14:11 Routers forward data packets,

14:13 most commonly internet protocol packets between network systems.

14:17 End quote.

14:18 First of all, limiting it to consumer is suspicious.

14:22 not accurate either.

14:24 But uh secondly, this is a very broad definition and it's broad

14:27 enough to encompass things like Wi-Fi extenders or mesh systems, for example.

14:34 I this even raises the question of whether or not smart

14:37 TVs or video game consoles or computers could be classified as routers.

14:42 They could fit this definition.

14:44 They're capable of forwarding data packets.

14:46 Beyond the inevitable impacts to consumer pricing and availability of routers,

14:50 this rule introduces new security risks for consumers.

14:53 The EFF's affformentioned security concerns stem

14:56 from entering EOL faster and restricting new imports.

15:00 Separately, Bit Defender's threat research director pointed

15:03 out to the New York Times that quote, "A ban has clear limitations.

15:07 It does not address the large installed base

15:09 of existing devices which will remain in use for years.

15:13 In practice, foreign manufactured routers will continue

15:16 to dominate US households in the near term,

15:18 so any security gains will be gradual at best.

15:20 End quote.

15:21 The FCC is trying to get around this by insinuating

15:23 that existing routers may not receive security updates beyond March 1st,

15:28 2027, but this only exacerbates the issue.

15:31 For Scout Security told CNNET that quote, "The risk is very real.

15:35 If you find yourself in a situation

15:36 where that update pipeline has been switched off,

15:39 then you definitely have to consider whether you want to keep using that device.

15:42 End quote.

15:43 At a time when a lot of people can barely afford rent or food,

15:46 updating a device they don't understand for a nebulous security

15:50 vulnerability they've never heard of to protect against an attacker

15:54 from a country they can't afford to ever go

15:56 to is probably pretty low on the list of hierarchical needs.

16:02 Most normal people won't replace the devices

16:04 when they stop receiving updates because one,

16:07 they won't know they stopped receiving updates because they don't update it,

16:10 just the auto updates.

16:12 But two, they'll replace it when it stops working.

16:17 And with the direction we're going,

16:19 probably with a solution provided by an internet

16:22 service provider for just $7 a month forever.

16:26 We think that may be at play here, too, as ISPs are among the top government

16:31 technology donors and increasingly forcing router rentals.

16:34 Many modern routers can automatically update their firmware, though.

16:38 But this ruling doesn't do anything to help us past March 1st,

16:41 2027, less than a year from now.

16:43 The EFF called the FCC's approach a quote blunt instrument

16:47 end quote that impacts quote many harmless products end quote.

16:51 and they highlighted the mass quote

16:53 defunding of cyber defense initiatives end quote.

16:56 Analyzing the Salt Typhoon hack, which the FCC highlighted as a specific attack

17:00 while justifying its endeavor to ban foreign made routers,

17:03 telecom reporter Carl Bode told the Verge, quote,

17:06 "One of the core problems wasn't foreign routers.

17:09 It's a lack of oversight and regulation of telecom monopolies.

17:13 A lot of these monopolies had gotten so lax with their privacy and security

17:16 standards that they forgot to change default

17:19 admin passwords on a lot of their routers.

17:21 End quote.

17:22 So, color me not surprised when the next attacker walks into a collocation

17:28 facility and types in admin and shuts down the entire[ __] internet.

17:33 The FCC's move being able to potentially consolidate power into the hands

17:37 of ISPs is a concerning development at a time when

17:39 the government is compelling social media companies to hand over information

17:44 of people who are mean to the government on the internet.

17:47 Professor Milton Mueller told the register, quote,

17:50 "A router made in the USA likely

17:52 runs a Linux kernel maintained by global contributors,

17:55 uses Wi-Fi drivers written in Taiwan,

17:57 and incorporates open source libraries managed by developers worldwide.

18:01 By focusing on the geographic location of the assembly line,

18:04 the FCC ignores the logical supply chain of the software.

18:08 A US assembled router with a poorly written UPN or universal plug-and-play

18:12 implementation is just as vulnerable to a hijacking as a foreign one.

18:16 End quote.

18:17 And he's absolutely right on that.

18:18 The software is a major factor here.

18:20 In fact, there's open- source solutions that just make

18:23 a lot of older routers more secure by installing them.

18:26 The foreign router ban also though introduces conflicts of interest

18:31 with one specific company at the center of them.

18:35 Starlink headed up by former extra special government employee world's

18:40 richest man and offagain onag again presidential bff Elon Musk.

18:45 Starlink says that its routers are made in Texas.

18:48 Sometimes sometimes they're made in Vietnam but close enough.

18:51 Starlink makes routers for its satellite internet service,

18:53 but Musk's close ties to the federal government

18:56 enable a path to Starlink contracting for consumer routers.

19:00 Our favorite part, though,

19:01 was that our research for the story led us to this page

19:05 on a Reuters story about the ban of foreign routers.

19:09 We received a Starlink advertisement.

19:11 It doesn't help that conditional approvals are now supposed to be done

19:15 by the Department of Defense or the US Department of Homeland Security either.

19:19 That'll slow down the process, but in our opinions,

19:22 that also adds additional layers of spyware concerns,

19:25 specifically relating to the DHS.

19:27 As a result of this environment,

19:28 UCLA lead industry analyst Mike Do told the New York Times, quote,

19:32 "It's very likely that the companies producing these routers will

19:35 need to pursue waiverss from the FCC's rules." End quote.

19:38 When push comes to shove,

19:39 this may introduce more of an opportunity for basically bribery to bypass.

19:45 Sorry, let me let me get the language right.

19:49 political contributions to bypass the issues and uh

19:53 companies that already have a cozy relationship

19:55 with the government which seems to be an increasing

19:57 pool every day will have an advantage here.

20:00 Uh and also you know the giving money to them

20:03 thing but I guess we're kind of all over that now.

20:05 We're already seeing this though with TPLink's example

20:09 of a $2 million spend for two gold cards.

20:12 In a post titled, quote, "Trump cyber security policy is indistinguishable

20:16 from a foreign attack." End quote.

20:17 Vote asserted that the US national security is

20:20 being dismantled at the request of major telecom lobbyists,

20:23 stating that the salt typhoon attack was quote caused in part

20:27 by our mindless deregulation and lacks

20:30 oversight of telecom monopolies end quote.

20:33 He added that the Biden FCC tried to address

20:36 this by implementing quote some very basic cyber security safeguards

20:40 requiring that telecoms try to do a better job securing

20:43 their networks and informing their customers of breaches end quote.

20:47 However, after that Brendan Carr's FCC

20:49 under Trump rescended these safeguards, quote,

20:51 because lobbyists said AT&T, Verizon, Comcast,

20:55 and Charter told them to end quote.

20:57 In November of 2025, per RS Technica,

21:00 the FCC voted to repeal a ruling requiring ISPs to secure their networks,

21:04 saying lobbyists requested it.

21:06 In an FCC blog post bizarrely titled Halloween Treats,

21:09 which is a disturbing title for an agency helmed by a man

21:12 who was accused of trying to silence Epstein files discussions on the air,

21:16 Carr tried to argue that voting to repeal

21:18 this ruling would actually somehow bolster the country's security.

21:22 quote, "We'll stay on public safety and vote on an order

21:25 that puts us on a stronger cyber security footing." End quote.

21:28 He said, "Dropping the ruling allows the agency

21:32 to be more quote agile." End quote.

21:34 While editing, the FCC revealed many of Nectar's routers

21:37 have received conditional approvals until at least October 1st, 2027.

21:41 Necar's lobbying means it's gaining an advantage from regulation,

21:45 not necessarily from competition.

21:47 And right now, it has a monopoly on consumer imports for new routers.

21:50 Nectar has lobbyed the federal

21:52 government for more corporate protectionism recently.

21:55 According to open secrets,

21:56 Ngear started its lobbying efforts in the fourth quarter of 2023

22:00 and has spent between 60 and 80 grand every quarter since then.

22:04 From October to December 2023,

22:06 Ngeear lobbied the House and the Senate on what it

22:08 called quote strategic competition with China end quote and cyber security.

22:12 Netgear subsequently added the DHS, FCC, and Department of Commerce,

22:17 and the company lobbyed for the Routers Act,

22:20 which requires the federal government

22:21 to study quote national security risks posed

22:24 by consumer routers and modems end quote and present the results to Congress.

22:28 The bill passed the House and currently resides in the Senate.

22:32 Nectar later included the National Security Council,

22:35 Executive Office of the President,

22:37 and Export Import Bank of the US in its efforts to influence policy.

22:41 US authorities have increasingly scrutinized Netgear's China based rival TPLink.

22:46 In March 2025, during a House committee hearing,

22:49 a former cyber security director for the NSA and an open AI

22:53 adviser advocated for the US to block TPLink from the US entirely.

22:58 August 2024, TPLink captured nearly 80% of the US

23:01 retail market for mesh systems running on Wi-Fi 7,

23:05 which is the newest Wi-Fi specification in existence.

23:08 TPLink routers were among the various brands exploited by Chinese state

23:12 sponsored hackers in the massive vault flax and salt typhoon attacks.

23:17 Imagine these routers in the homes and businesses across America as a PRC

23:22 platform to launch society panic panicking

23:25 cyber attacks during the invasion of Taiwan.

23:28 We cannot have this software for prolific devices be written,

23:32 updated and controlled by a Chinese company.

23:35 Is there any uh any action the commerce

23:38 department should utilize uh to take action against TPLink?

23:43 Yes, sir.

23:43 Um Congress has the authority um on a national security basis

23:48 to block and uh and bar those devices from sale in the US

23:52 and and they I understand they are working on that today and I

23:56 would encourage everybody to uh to move swiftly and quickly on that action.

24:00 A month later, Bloomberg reported the US government would investigate

24:03 TPLink for antitrust violations around

24:06 pricing alongside national security risk evaluation.

24:09 Several months later, a bipartisan group of House representatives

24:13 asked Epstein Island Flyer and Secretary

24:15 of Commerce Howard Lutnik to investigate

24:17 TPLink and its connections to China's government.

24:20 The competition between Netgear and TPLink kept escalating.

24:24 TPLink actually sued Netgear that same month over its

24:28 allegations that TPLink had ties to the Chinese government.

24:31 TPLink alleged that Netgear had launched an quote unlawful

24:35 smear campaign end quote against them with the legal

24:38 complaint stating that Netgear had tried to quote capitalize

24:41 on anti-Chinese sentiment and fear of cyber attacks end quote.

24:45 TPLink pointed to Netgear CEO stating in an earnings

24:49 call that quote TPLink is a national security risk.

24:52 End quote.

24:52 In the very same call, Netgear also said it would increase its supply

24:57 if the US excluded TPLink from the market,

25:00 which felt like sort of a signal to regulators.

25:03 The government scrutiny of TPLink as a national security risk

25:06 has been exposed by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal,

25:10 raising questions about TPLink's ability to continue

25:13 to participate in the US market.

25:16 We are monitoring this situation very closely

25:19 given the the hawkishness of the new administration.

25:24 You know, we are starting to look at uh making

25:27 a small investment in supply given some of the lead

25:31 times of our products uh to be in a better

25:35 position should you know an exclusion actually happen.

25:39 And as we've talked about before, like if an exclusion were to happen,

25:43 uh that would that would require a significant working capital investment.

25:48 TPLink clapped back and pointed out Nectar's hardware had

25:50 also been affected by similar or the same cyber attacks,

25:54 which TPLink said Neckar quote failed to mention.

25:57 End quote.

25:57 In terms of what TPLink is asking for with its lawsuit,

26:01 the company says that Netgear's misconduct

26:03 has quote injured and threatens injury

26:05 to well over a billion dollars in sales end quote and it's seeking damages.

26:09 To us, it looks like Netgear is trying to posture,

26:12 at least to the US government,

26:14 as a US first company despite actually manufacturing predominantly overseas.

26:19 And it's trying to leverage its position politically to block arrival.

26:23 That's what we think.

26:24 Beyond though the obvious of enabling corporations to collude against consumers,

26:30 which seems to be a common topic

26:32 lately with these government tech company collaborations.

26:36 There are additional concerns, which is the obvious,

26:38 of potential government back doors in these devices.

26:42 Devices that have access to just about everything

26:44 you do on the internet in some capacity,

26:47 especially at a time when they're working with Palanteer, Flock,

26:49 Rain, and Nvidia in ways that we think perpetuate surveillance.

26:53 Routers have the capability of showing

26:55 significant detail about your online habits.

26:57 AVG Technologies says, quote,

26:59 "Someone with access to your router can eavesdrop on you.

27:02 Since your router handles all the internet traffic on your network,

27:06 a router hacker can see what you're doing,

27:08 which websites and services you're using,

27:10 when you're using them, and more." End quote.

27:12 A government, any government, any party, I don't care.

27:15 Having access to this type of information and the ability to oversee

27:20 communications creates pathways to exercise

27:22 authoritarian control and oppression of speech

27:26 in particular uh or just manipulate algorithms and results to brainwash

27:30 the public kind of like social media networks already do right now.

27:34 This kind of reminds us in some ways of China's great firewall as it's called.

27:38 The US government and its at least claimed

27:41 position of trying to stop some of the things

27:43 that it says other countries do is creating

27:46 a slippery slope where it itself could do those things.

27:50 19 states already require age verification such as via government ID to view

27:55 adult content and moving forward routers

27:57 may provide a more robust backdoor option.

28:00 Even basic social media platforms now like Discord are starting to require IDs.

28:04 And with the resistance to giving government ID up,

28:06 we wouldn't be surprised if at some point there's a collaborative

28:09 appearance of a deescalation where say ISPs use a unique identifier,

28:15 a subscriber ID attached to your packets to identify

28:19 you that way instead of uploading your ID to some website and it would be seen

28:23 as an improvement if it goes that direction.

28:25 But anyway, in an online FAQ posted by the commission,

28:28 the commission asked itself self,

28:31 "Are routers intended to be used exclusively in industrial,

28:34 enterprise, or military contexts covered?" And the commission answered itself,

28:38 "Sself, no." The National Security Determination's definition

28:42 of routers refers to consumer grade networking

28:44 devices that are primarily intended for residential

28:47 use and can be installed by the customer.

28:48 End quote.

28:49 Routers used by the US government

28:51 and military are actually already subject to stricter

28:54 regulations such as the byamerican act which

28:57 requires federal agencies to prioritize American products.

29:00 But even that act says this quote the provisions

29:04 of the act may be waved if the head of the procuring

29:07 agency determines the act to be inconsistent with the public

29:10 interests or the cost of acquiring the domestic product is unreasonable.

29:15 End quote.

29:15 Interesting.

29:16 that waiver option isn't in there for you as a consumer.

29:20 If the cost of the domestic product is unreasonable,

29:23 then I guess the waiver is uh go[ __] yourself.

29:26 On top of that, there's a lot of evidence to suggest

29:29 the US government has already spent

29:31 money on TPLink routers and networking equipment,

29:33 which as a reminder is the company it was just thinking of banning.

29:37 In response to the ban,

29:39 several router companies have put out statements to the press

29:41 that seemingly try to curry favor with the US government, mostly saying nothing.

29:46 Now, there's some parallels here to some other interesting bans technically.

29:50 For example, these are also banned.

29:55 How did that how did that get in here?

29:57 In December 2025, the FCC concluded that drones

30:00 pose quote unacceptable risks to the national

30:03 security of the United States and to the safety

30:05 and security of US persons end quote.

30:07 A direct quote from what they're saying now.

30:10 Though it made its initial announcement late last year,

30:13 the FCC only recently provided conditional

30:16 approvals for four drone systems in March,

30:19 none of which come from Chinese companies.

30:21 It just so happens that companies like DJI are

30:24 among the most competitive right now in the space.

30:27 Like the routers, the drone situation also introduces conflicts of interest,

30:31 seeing as how President Trump's sons are

30:33 both partial owners in Orius Greenway Holdings,

30:37 a golf club firm that is merging with a drone manufacturer called Power Us.

30:43 You know, as golf club firms are known to do, manufacture drones.

30:50 I guess it I kind of feel like

30:54 this router and drone thing sets the stage for nepotism.

31:01 No, no, that can't be it.

31:06 That's definitely not it.

31:09 The key points are these.

31:10 The ban will lead to decreased innovation

31:12 and access to technology for American consumers,

31:15 especially going forward as new technology comes

31:18 out and becomes available for other markets.

31:20 The ban will, we think,

31:21 set up a layup for ISPs to rent their routers to consumers who are looking

31:26 for an easy solution so that they

31:28 can then perpetually pay for that device forever.

31:31 The ban introduces a major conflict of interest favoring Starlink and Elon Musk.

31:37 The US claims that the concern is of attacks on routers

31:40 that happen to be made by factories in foreign countries.

31:43 The reality is that these types of attacks can

31:45 happen on any router regardless of where they're made.

31:47 A lot of it also is at the software layer, not the hardware layer.

31:51 It could be both.

31:52 But moving it to the US doesn't solve that problem.

31:54 And actually, it could make it worse and at the very least

31:57 the short term for companies that have no experience making stuff here and who

32:01 are trying to cut corners because the costs are so much higher

32:04 and there's zero supply chain for most of those components in the US.

32:08 It's also just a delusion to think that any meaningful factory capacity

32:12 can come online in less than a year in the United States,

32:16 especially when most of these components are made in China

32:19 anyway and the routers themselves are assembled often in Thailand,

32:22 Taiwan, Vietnam, and of course in China.

32:26 But there's another interesting thing here too,

32:28 which is that on the software side,

32:30 there are and have been open- source solutions where

32:33 you can continue to use old routers with publicly available

32:39 open-source firmware or software or both and use those devices

32:44 even past their usable service life from the manufacturer.

32:47 But what's interesting is that United States laws and in particular

32:51 opposition to right to repair by large corporations has

32:55 meant that in some cases router companies will brick their devices

33:00 if they detect you've installed something like OpenWRT on them,

33:04 rendering them[ __] useless if you try to put something

33:07 more secure on it because the company has stopped using it.

33:11 In some ways though, a lot of this stuff isn't news.

33:13 The FCC was looking at limitations on installing custom firmware

33:17 and operating systems on routers as early as 11 years ago.

33:22 Now, various types of bans

33:23 and corporate collusion and collaboration with governments,

33:26 it's been around for a long time.

33:27 A lot of administrations.

33:28 It's multi-administration, multi-party.

33:31 It just so happens that right now the set of people in charge in the government

33:34 and the set of people in charge in the companies

33:37 seem to get this[ __] done real fast.

33:39 And it's not good for consumers or normal people.

33:42 It's like a just[ __] complete open

33:45 corruption where even the bribes aren't disguised anymore.

33:49 Like Tim Apple literally handing Donald Trump a piece

33:53 of gold and I think it was the Oval Office.

33:56 So any if you live in the US in particular, you should be concerned about this.

34:00 uh the boogeymen that are normally described,

34:02 although you wouldn't want anyone to have

34:04 access to your data in particular, you know,

34:08 it's a lot less valuable to other governments than it is

34:11 to the government that wants to maintain control of a particular narrative.

34:16 And that's regardless of party.

34:18 Just my personal bias, full disclosure,

34:21 my personal belief is that the government of the place you live

34:24 in is probably one of the greatest

34:27 threats in terms of controlling communications devices, the roll out of them,

34:33 and you know, being able to control speech

34:35 or now with social media platforms more easily

34:38 than ever manipulate things so that you're served

34:41 stuff that keeps you kind of brainwashed long term.

34:44 It's not quite there yet, but it's certainly getting there.

34:47 Uh but anyway, ideally none of them have your data.

34:49 It's just that the data is a lot more

34:51 immediately useful to you know the place you live.

34:53 Telecom lobbyists have a lot of sway as one

34:55 of our viewers pointed out when we first reported on this story.

34:59 Quote, "Enjoy your new Palunteer Freedom Router trademark." One thing this will

35:03 definitely impact though is consumer pricing

35:06 and options availability of new technology.

35:09 Ultimately, we and say what you want, I don't really care at this point.

35:13 think that this is a play at control,

35:15 government and corporate, kind of all the same at this point.

35:18 But, uh, it could be government

35:20 oversight and control over the public's communications.

35:23 It could also be something as innocent and innocuous as serving you better

35:28 targeted ads because there's a better pipeline to get the information about you.

35:32 Uh, perhaps on that end,

35:34 then it could be useful just for making money and taking it from you.

35:39 Or again, on the other end, could be used for propaganda.

35:42 Uh either way though, on the scary side,

35:44 potentially this could be used to track political dissident,

35:47 people who say meany things on the internet about the government and its people.

35:52 And this is at a time where, you know,

35:54 we have to kind of lean into this stuff at this point

35:56 because the government and the corporations between Flock and Rain,

36:02 Nvidia, and Palanteer, which we've covered extensively on our GNCA channel

36:05 if you want to see more of this content,

36:08 they're making it kind of hard to see it any other way.

36:10 While that may sound like dystopian science fiction,

36:13 the US government's official White House app

36:15 tracks users locations and reportedly presents security risks.

36:18 Developer and Twitter user, The Realo 1026,

36:22 claimed that they decompiled the Android version of the app

36:24 and deduced that it quote has a cookie paywall bypass injector,

36:28 tracks your GPS every 4.5 minutes,

36:31 and loads JavaScript from some guy's GitHub pages.

36:34 End quote.

36:35 Atomic Computer reported the iOS version quote sends your IP address,

36:39 time zone, device model, OS version, session count, session duration,

36:43 and a persistent unique identifier to one signal

36:46 on every launch despite the permission strain claiming quote,

36:49 "This app does not use your location" and sub quote,

36:52 "and the privacy manifest declaring zero data collection.

36:55 Only 23% of the app's requests go to white house.gov.

36:59 The other 77% go to third parties." End quote.

37:02 So again, the fact that US government is

37:04 focusing on just consumer routers with this ban suggests

37:07 to us that this might be a play

37:08 at a mix of surveillance and corporate usefulness, not security.

37:13 Now, there is something you can do if you care about security and surveillance.

37:18 There are open- source solutions that you should look into for DIY routers,

37:22 and they're not too hard to put together.

37:24 For example, OpenWRT and PFSense,

37:27 which provides patches faster than a lot of the manufacturers do.

37:31 So, that's it for this one.

37:33 Thanks for watching.

37:34 Subscribe for more.

37:35 We have a lot more stuff coming up.

37:36 We've got several hardware reviews on the channel lately.

37:38 Actually, a lot more than the past few months.

37:40 So, if you want that stuff, it's up there for you.

37:42 And go to store.gamersac.net to support our upcoming deep dive travel series we

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37:50 Or patreon.com/gamersac.

37:52 We'll see you all next time.