TP-Link has offered the FCC a nearly $1 billion commitment to US research and manufacturing in a bid to secure conditional approval for two Wi-Fi 8 routers, a filing that lands amid five state lawsuits and public opposition from 21 state attorneys general.

The pledge, disclosed in an October 13 filing with the Federal Communications Commission, covers US-based R&D and manufacturing capabilities, the creation of "hundreds" of US jobs, and an expansion of TP-Link's current American workforce of more than 700. As part of the onshoring plan, TP-Link would begin assembling the new Wi-Fi 8 routers in the US sometime in 2027.

The application is pending. And the road to approval is rough.

What is blocking the waiver?

Five states — Florida, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska and Texas — have filed suits against the router maker. The complaints allege TP-Link misled consumers about security vulnerabilities in its products, including shortcomings of its built-in "HomeShield" service. The suits also raise concerns about the company's "longstanding and ongoing connections to China."

TP-Link says it manufactures all products sold in the US in Vietnam. The Florida suit disputes that claim. It cites an April 2025 Bloomberg report in which TP-Link confirmed that, aside from components bought in Vietnam accounting for 0.5 percent of the total value of inputs to its plant there, all other components are imported from China.

TP-Link's corporate history complicates the picture. The company was founded in 1996 in Shenzhen, China. It later ran dual headquarters in Singapore and Irvine, California, and moved its global headquarters to California in 2024.

The October 13 filing responds directly to an October 7 letter signed by 21 state attorneys general and addressed to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioners Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty. That letter echoes the concerns raised in the state lawsuits.

TP-Link said it made the filing "to correct the public record," arguing it faces an unfair standard that does not apply to competitors.

"Many of the allegations raised by the 21 state-level officials are not germane to the information requested as part of the Conditional Approval application," TP-Link said. The company stated it does not and will not share customer network data with foreign governments or unauthorized third parties.

"To be clear, the allegations raised in this letter are baseless, and TP-Link looks forward to refuting these claims in court now that four of these officials have brought lawsuits," the company said.

A week earlier, TP-Link issued a broader response to the state AG lawsuits, describing itself as an "independent, US company that is not owned or controlled by any foreign government" that complies with US privacy and data protection laws.

"The coordinated lawsuits are built on false premises. They do nothing to advance national security while unfairly penalizing an industry-leading U.S. company," Steve Kovsky, TP-Link's corporate affairs officer, said in a statement.

Why the FCC holds the cards

The regulatory backdrop matters. In March, the FCC banned new, foreign-made consumer routers, citing cybersecurity concerns and a policy interest in bringing more device manufacturing to the US. The ban covers consumer Wi-Fi routers, Wi-Fi extenders, broadband gateways and standalone modems. Enterprise-class devices are exempt.

Since then, a growing list of manufacturers, industry organizations and broadband providers has filed for — and in many cases obtained — conditional approvals or expedited waivers, typically active for one year.

The two tracks differ. Expedited waivers generally cover routers previously approved by the FCC that need a fresh review due to minor hardware changes, such as new memory components or replacements for end-of-life parts. Conditional approvals apply to new products, including Wi-Fi extenders that have never passed FCC certification.

The process typically takes about eight weeks, according to industry sources familiar with it.

What does this change for the market?

TP-Link can continue selling previously approved devices in the US while its application is pending. The stakes sit with its next product wave: the two Wi-Fi 8 routers in the application are slated for a global launch later this year. In August, TP-Link introduced a family of consumer-grade Wi-Fi 8 products — a mesh system, travel router, extenders and adapters — set for launch in 2027.

Competitors have already cleared the bar. Among those granted conditional approvals: Amazon's eero and Amazon Leo routers (good through October 31, 2027), Netgear's Nighthawk line (October 1, 2027), Askey's Wi-Fi 8 gateways (February 3, 2028), Asus router and mesh ranges (March 6, 2028), Nokia wireless and Beacon routers (October 31, 2027), SpaceX's Starlink routers (February 1, 2028), Sagemcom's FAST-branded devices including a DOCSIS 4.0 model (December 5, 2027), and Calix GigaSpire-class routers (November 22, 2027).

Operators have moved as well. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile-linked supplier Arcadyan and others hold waivers or approvals, with AT&T's expedited waiver good through May 15, 2027 and Verizon's through June 26, 2027. Vantiva has pending petitions for expedited waivers covering its BGW620 gateway for AT&T deployment.

Not every request has succeeded on first attempt. NCTA, the cable industry association, won an expedited waiver in June but is now seeking a broader one still awaiting approval. Actiontec Electronics' expedited waiver request is also pending.

For TP-Link, the $1 billion pledge reframes its FCC application as an onshoring test case as much as a product approval. The FCC has given no timeline for a decision, and the state lawsuits — which TP-Link says it will fight in court — will run on a separate clock. The company's Wi-Fi 8 roadmap, including US assembly planned for 2027, now depends on both.