Linus Tech Tips Discussion

 FCC Router ban saga continues: No portable hotspot for you, but here's portable hotspot for you (on your phone) Summary   FCC Router ban saga continues after they put an update that devices with portable hotspot capability are banned, but not phones with portable hotspot feature. Basically, any foreign portable hotspot devices, especially MiFi and CPE (cellular router) devices are very much a no no. However, if a phone have portable hotspot feature, even if it's foreign, it is - at least for now, safe from FCC ban. While this update already gets spotted, there's no official announcement yet. These devices were initially not on the list of the banned devices in the initial roll out, as the archived initial roll out announcement stated.   Quotes Quote (Ars Technica) [...] The FCC added a new section to an FAQ titled, “Is my device a consumer-grade router under the National Security Determination?” The new FAQ section says this category includes “consumer-grade portable or mobile MiFi Wi-Fi or hotspot devices for residential use.” The ban does not cover “mobile phones with hotspot features,” the FAQ says. This means that companies making consumer hotspots need an exemption from the government to import and sell any future hotspots that haven’t previously been approved by the FCC. As with routers, devices previously approved for sale in the US can continue to be imported and sold without obtaining a special exemption.    [...] But while an earlier version of the FAQ stated that cellphones with mobile hotspot features were exempt, it did not specifically say that portable hotspot devices were covered by the ban. In addition to hotspot devices, the new FAQ section says the router ban applies to “consumer or small and medium-sized business routers sold or rented through retail and self-installable by end users”; “LTE/5G CPE [customer premises equipment] devices for residential use”; “residential routers installed by a professional or ISP”; and “residential gateways that combine modem and router functions.”      Quotes Quote (ZDNET) [...]The commission hasn't made an official announcement about the expansion, but in a section that details what qualifies as a consumer-grade router (first spotted by PCMag), there's new verbiage that includes "portable or mobile MiFi Wi-Fi or hotspot devices for residential use" as well as "LTE/5G CPE devices for residential use."    (PCMag) [...] On Wednesday, the FCC updated its FAQ on the ban, clarifying which consumer-grade routers are subject to the restrictions. Portable Wi-Fi hotspots are usually considered a separate category from Wi-Fi home routers. Both offer internet access, but portable Wi-Fi hotspots use a SIM card to conn