After banning foreign routers, FCC says existing ones can get updates until 2029

The Federal Communications Commission is relenting a bit on its restrictive router rules, saying it will allow foreign-made routers to receive software and firmware updates until at least January 1, 2029. The FCC also expanded the waiver to cover more types of software updates. Previously, the FCC said routers currently on the market or already sold to consumers could receive security patches and other updates only until March 1, 2027. On Friday, the agency announced a waiver extension that lets devices receive updates until January 1, 2029, and said the waiver may eventually become permanent. The software-update cutoff date is part of a sweeping set of rules the FCC announced in March. Claiming that restrictions are needed for national security reasons, the FCC imposed a ban on new hardware and related limits on software updates for routers that were authorized for sale before the ban was implemented.