Oh great, now broadband routers are at risk of being in short supply too

(Image credit: Pixabay (USA-Reiseblogger))

If you spot a good deal on a wireless router and are in need of an upgrade, don't sit on the fence too long before buying. Broadband routers are poised to be the next piece of hardware to feel the effects of a global chip shortage currently disrupting the availability of the latest generation CPUs, GPUs, and game consoles.

It is already happening to internet service providers (ISPs), according to sources who spoke with Bloomberg on the matter. Those sources say ISPs are facing broadband router order delays of up to 60 weeks, which is twice as long as the previous lead time.

So far we have not seen any signs of the chip shortage affecting the availability of standalone consumer routers—there are plenty of Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) models in stock at places like Amazon and Newegg. But things could turn on a dime, as we have seen for other types of hardware.

Karsten Gewecke, senior vice president of Zyxel, a major player in the router market, pointed to shutdowns within the supply chain due the pandemic as the primary cause. In addition, Zyxel's manufacturing facility in China had temporarily stopped operating when Covid-19 first hit over a year ago, and it has been spotty ever since.

Your next upgrade

Best CPU for gaming: the top chips from Intel and AMD
Best graphics card: your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: get into the game ahead of the rest

The situation is further exacerbated by increased demand for consumer broadband hardware, as more people find themselves working from home. And on top of everything else, Zyxel routers are among the cargo on Ever Given, the Evergreen-owned container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal and has now been detained.

"It’s a snowball effect that we’re pushing in front of us, and the situation since then has just become worse and worse and worse," said Gewecke. "When I talk to some of the chipset vendors, some of them tell me that they have something like overbooking of 300 percent of their capacity."

As things stand, not a single ISP has depleted their inventory of broadband routers yet, though Gewecke says it could happen within the next several months.

"We have been very close several times," Gewecke added.

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).