After facing intense scrutiny from several agencies for more than a year, the U.S. government is considering banning TP-Link routers outright, courtesy of a proposal from the Department of Commerce, backed by the Justice Department, Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and more. According to the Washington Post, the White House is concerned about national security due to TP-Link's close ties to China, a claim the company fervently denies in its statement, reiterating it will continue business operations as usual. It's also prepared to legally challenge any unfair treatment if the government goes through with the ban.
Although some reports suggest that TP-Link controls upwards of 65% of the U.S. router market, the company affirms that its share of the "residential Wi-Fi router" market in North America is under 10%, according to Dell'Oro market research. The company offers networking gear at lower prices than its competitors, especially in budget segments — something it's already under investigation for by the Department of Justice. Moreover, the Department of Commerce had been looking into TP-Link since last year, when it first flagged the company for ties to China, a concern exacerbated by the Salt Tycoon attacks on telecom providers in December 2024. Three months from that, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said, "don't use this" while holding up a TP-Link router in front of Congress.
The official process for the Department of Commerce's proposal consists of two 30-day-long phases. First, after initiating the ban (following approval from other government agencies), TP-Link would be given a month to respond. Then Commerce would have its own month to decide whether to continue with the ban, taking into account TP-Link's objections. This is likely the period when negotiations will take center stage, as the two parties work out all the details. That being said, the Department of Commerce has made it clear that nothing short of a ban would suffice in this case.
China-related national security concerns have picked up steam under the Trump administration, which entered a temporary tariff truce with Beijing last week — likely what's keeping the ban from taking effect immediately — but tensions continue to escalate. Despite being an American company, TP-Link Systems remains an alleged threat to the government, which claims that spying software can be installed on these routers by simply pushing a state-mandated update from China, which TP-Link Technologies (its parent) would need to comply with.
At this point, nothing has been set in motion, and we could very well see a deal being worked out between Washington and TP-Link; otherwise, this would become one of the most significant technological bans in the country's history, joining the ranks of Huawei, whose legacy infrastructure is still being phased out by network providers. A ban on TP-Link routers would shake up the market considerably, leaving a clear gap for value-oriented buyers who relied on the company's hardware. Many network providers worldwide already use TP-Link routers as their default.
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