With its bid to get an exemption from the FCC’s broadband router ban nonetheless in limbo, TP-Hyperlink revealed it has signed a letter of intent with Keytronic to arrange router meeting capabilities within the US.
TP-Hyperlink, which presently sources many router parts exterior the US, stated the letter of intent would make Spokane Valley, Washington-based Keytronic its “major home manufacturing accomplice.”
Wi-Fi 8 merchandise are anticipated to be among the many first to roll off of a manufacturing line at Keytronic’s 305,000-square-foot facility in Corinth, Mississippi. Home meeting of these merchandise may begin as early as 2027, pending US regulatory approval, based on TP-Hyperlink.
$1 billion funding in US R&D, manufacturing
TP-Hyperlink’s letter of intent with Keytronic comes after TP-Hyperlink revealed in an October 13 submitting with the FCC that its software to acquire conditional approval for a pair of Wi-Fi 8 routers features a pledge to make an almost $1 billion funding in US-based R&D and manufacturing capabilities. As a part of that onshoring plan, TP-Hyperlink famous it’s making ready to start out assembling the brand new Wi-Fi 8 routers within the US someday in 2027.
TP-Hyperlink is an element of a big and rising checklist of client broadband router corporations which are in search of particular dispensation from the FCC’s ban on new, foreign-made client routers. The ban, which took impact in March, goals to deal with safety considerations whereas additionally encouraging suppliers to carry manufacturing to the US. The FCC ban doesn’t apply to enterprise-grade routers.
Suppliers of broadband routers, together with Wi-Fi entry factors and extenders and standalone cable modems, have usually sought conditional approval for brand spanking new router merchandise or expedited waivers for previously-approved router fashions that require minor modifications to parts, together with reminiscence (see this story for an up to date checklist of router suppliers which have obtained conditional approvals or expedited waivers, or are nonetheless awaiting outcomes).
The FCC has been requested for touch upon TP-Hyperlink’s newest dedication to carry a level of router meeting stateside.
“This LOI with Keytronic demonstrates our agency dedication to increasing home superior manufacturing, and establishing America as our base for delivering safe, dependable connectivity options to households and companies world wide,” stated TP-Hyperlink CEO Jeffrey Chao in an announcement. Chao is in search of to develop into a US citizen, based on Steve Kovsky, TP-Hyperlink’s company affairs officer, as reported by PCMag.
State-led lawsuits
TP-Hyperlink’s intent to put money into US-based meeting and manufacturing comes because the router maker faces a handful of state-led lawsuits and pushback from practically two dozen state attorneys normal relating to considerations about safety in TP-Hyperlink merchandise and the corporate’s purported hyperlinks to China.
As of this writing, 5 states – Florida, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska and Texas – have filed fits towards the router maker over allegations that it misled shoppers about safety vulnerabilities in its merchandise, together with alleged shortcomings of its built-in “HomeShield” service.
In line with TP-Hyperlink, the corporate manufactures all the merchandise it sells within the US in Vietnam. However that declare is being challenged. The Florida swimsuit, for instance, argues that TP-Hyperlink’s claims are overstated, pointing to an April 2025 Bloomberg story, which notes that “TP-Hyperlink confirmed that, other than parts purchased in Vietnam that account for 0.5 p.c of the full worth of inputs to the plant there, all different parts are imported from China.”
TP-Hyperlink has argued that it is an “unbiased, US firm that isn’t owned or managed by any international authorities” and that it complies with US privateness and knowledge safety legal guidelines.
TP-Hyperlink, which was based in 1996 in Shenzhen, China, later ran twin headquarters in Singapore and Irvine, California. It moved its international headquarters to California in 2024.
Keytronic exits China
Keytronic, TP-Hyperlink’s pending US manufacturing accomplice, runs design, sourcing and manufacturing within the US, Mexico and Vietnam.
In its fiscal This fall 2026 earnings presentation (PDF obtain), Keytronic famous that it had exited manufacturing operations in China and transferred a number of packages to Vietnam. Nevertheless, the corporate stated it will proceed to function in China with a “small crew targeted on sourcing.”
