TP-Link faces FCC ban and lawsuits in four US states

TP-Link faces growing legal and regulatory pressure in the US, with four states filing lawsuits alleging it misled consumers about its China ties and router security, while it remains barred from selling its latest devices under an FCC ban. Florida, Montana, Iowa, and Nebraska filed lawsuits yesterday accusing TP-Link of deceptive trade practices, claiming Chinese state hackers exploited its routers. The FCC banned consumer routers made outside the US about six months ago, but TP-Link has not received an exemption granted to competitors like Netgear and Asus. TP-Link, which moved its headquarters to California in 2024, denies the allegations, calling the coordinated lawsuits baseless. It says its US-sold routers are made in Vietnam and that it is an independent American company, though it cannot currently sell its new Wi-Fi 8 models.