This may be your last TP-Link router as they could be banned in the US soon

It is no secret that the USA and China do not share much of a friendly relationship and it has been such for a while. Donald Trump, the 47th President of the country, has been especially unfriendly to the Far East nation. A new development is purportedly brewing which is likely something Trump won't oppose to.

According to a new report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) (paywalled) the USA is planning to put a ban on the sale of TP-Link routers. The Office of the US Department of Commerce is making this move to stop the Chinese company from getting any more foothold than what it already has as it is under investigation over monopolistic concerns.

According to market data by two different research firms, TP-Link has managed to hold on to its lead for routers as it had the highest share in 2022 as well as in 2024. Taiwan-based D-Link also maintained its position as the runner-up. A Gartner poll shows that both the companies are quite popular and trusted among users.

The USA apparently thinks that TP-Link has often been especially slow to implement patches upon discovery of a security vulnerability. One such recent security pitfall, discovered by Microsoft, was carried out by Chinese threat actor "Storm-0940". The company wrote:

Microsoft tracks a network of compromised small office and home office (SOHO) routers as CovertNetwork-1658. SOHO routers manufactured by TP-Link make up most of this network.

A TP-Link spokeswoman gave he following statement to the WSJ regarding the matter:

We welcome any opportunities to engage with the US government to demonstrate that our security practices are fully in line with industry security standards, and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the US market, US consumers, and addressing US national security risks.

We will have to wait and watch what happens but if a ban goes through, TP-Link owners will have to switch to something else like D-Link, Tenda, Netgear, or alike.

Source

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