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FCC updates covered list to include foreign-made consumer routers

fcc.gov

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Re: FCC updates covered list to include foreign-made consumer routers

#381

Post by fidotron »

This will keep expanding until a lot of radio equipment is locked down. This is an obvious first move, but the fundamental problem is there's nothing stopping your hacked radio equipment from usefully spying on whoever is in range, to a degree that simply isn't appreciated even around here.

It's also a quasi inevitable side effect of the push to encrypt all communication back to the cloud, since now it's too easy for malicious devices to hide what they're sending back.

Back to wearing the tin foil hat in my faraday cage.

Re: FCC updates covered list to include foreign-made consumer routers

#383

Post by Forgeties79 »

cheriot wrote: post #340

Can't wait to see the price of the first US made home router. We [USA] really need a formal designation of trusted supply chain partners. Would improve security and make a useful bargaining chip.

It’ll probably get rolled into ISP’s available hardware because (I believe) most people just lease from their ISP anyway. We’ll just eat the cost regardless.

Re: FCC updates covered list to include foreign-made consumer routers

#385

Post by 9cb14c1ec0 »

Miraste wrote: post #341

This is the same thing they did to drones. It's corruption. It doesn't even make sense from an extreme isolationist point of view, because there's no path to create domestic manufacturing. I'm guessing the rest of this looks like drones, too: FCC approval is given only to American companies that bribe members of the administration, and they raise prices through the roof. The routers are still manufactured overseas an…

There absolutely is a path to domestic manufacturing. It might be long and hard, but it does exist.

Source: My company manages logistics for dozens of US manufacturing companies.

Re: FCC updates covered list to include foreign-made consumer routers

#387

Post by tombert »

yabones wrote: post #373
tombert wrote: post #334

Seems like now is as good a time as any for people who know how to do this to build their own routers with Pfsense, Opnsense, ClearOS, or one of the many other firewall/router distros out there. You can get an old desktop or laptop that's more than good enough to be a router for basically nothing (or sometimes literally nothing) on Craigslist or Ebay. I suspect pretty much anyone who frequents this forum could probab…

Even easier, just throw together some iptables rules & install dnsmasq. Obviously out of reach of most non-techy people but it's not much worse than most self-hosted things people build. I've even done it with USB-Ethernet dongles. Maybe "whitebox" stuff will have a moment here. Buy a ARM based "computer" that just happens to have a built in switch and 802.11 radio, and separately purchase an SD card with the OS on i…

The easiest one I've set up was ClearOS. I was happy enough with OpnSense but when I upgraded a network card I had issues with driver compatibility because of the FreeBSD core. ClearOS being Linux it worked out of the box, and getting ClearOS set up seriously only took me like fifteen minutes. I was shocked.

I love my NixOS thing, because I am part of the cult of NixOS, but it's probably something I wouldn't recommend for most people because it was kind of a pain in the ass to get working. The reason I do it now is because it lives on the same box that is my server.

I've looked into Vyos, it sort of reminds me of the Cisco stuff and it looks interesting, but it never seemed sufficiently better than my NixOS thing.

Re: FCC updates covered list to include foreign-made consumer routers

#389

Post by graemep »

petcat wrote: post #344
cute_boi wrote: post #323

this administration is going nuts day by day. I don't know how people are even tolerating.

It has nothing to do with the current administration. The Secure Equipment Act was passed in 2021 and signed into law by Joe Biden. > This law requires the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue rules stating that it will no longer review or approve any authorization application for equipment that poses an unacceptable risk to national security. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Equipment_Act

That says "telecommunications equipment" and it sounds like its talking about network equipment. The page you link to does not mention any developments since 2022 so what has changed this month?

Re: FCC updates covered list to include foreign-made consumer routers

#390

Post by einpoklum »

imglorp wrote: post #348
dryarzeg wrote: post #325

(reposting this comment from the other thread which discusses the same topic, I'm sorry for any trouble that may cause) From one side, that sure... does have some point. Well, I mean, one could potentially install some kind of a backdoor on the networking hardware they produce, and if it's state-controlled, then it could potentially be a threat. From the other side, though... That's crazy. Maybe I'm missing something…

The good news is this domain doesn't call for cutting edge, 2 nm process. There are more than a half dozen fabs in the US which can produce networking chips like ethernet controllers, line drivers, SOC, etc: Intel, TI, Samsung, et al. If US wanted to onshore routers, we could make it happen.

If I understand the determination on which the FCC decision is based:

https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/NSD-Routers0326.pdf

a router produced in the US from foreign-made parts - like controllers, drivers etc. - is not in the "covered list". Although I admit the wording is vague: "produced in the US".

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