I've seen good routers.I've seen bad routers.I've seen routers that were just , with nothing special about them, which might arguably be the best type of router.
But I've never seen anything like the Davolink Minions router, and that thing is currently sold out everywhere due to the overwhelming hype surrounding it.This Minion went viral, and now everyone wants one One enthusiastic post was all it took Of all the things I ever thought I'd see, this one would've never come to mind.I've seen gaming routers (which aren't always amazing) that look like WALL-E.
I've seen travel routers that look like a tiny box.I've seen it all, but this? A Minion-shaped router? But why? I'm sorry, I have to ask.But Regardless of the existential crisis this little duo of routers sent me into, yes, they're real, and yes, they went viral.
They went so viral that you can't even buy them anymore, short of buying from resellers at a high markup.It all started with an inconspicuous X post from Charles Lohr, who claimed to have tested it thoroughly.Lohr dubbed it "one of the best possible Wi-Fi 6E routers money can buy." ...And then it completely blew up.
From a forgotten product to a desired gadget I suppose that many people must have had the same reaction as I've had, given that the post accumulated millions of views, drawing attention from enthusiasts who hadn't heard of the device.Davolink, the company behind the Minions routers, is a South Korean networking company that primarily made equipment for businesses before branching out into consumer hardware.The company officially launched these licensed Minions monstrosities in 2023, and there are two models: Kevin, the taller Wi-Fi 6E AXE5400 router, and Bob, the smaller Wi-Fi 6 AX1800 version.
You can use them separately, or together as a mesh system.No, I'm not joking.But what really got people curious was more than just the ridiculous design.
Underneath those overalls, one of the Minions was hiding some serious potential.The specifications are surprisingly good for the money That's a lot of Wi-Fi for something wearing overalls I almost hate myself for saying this, but these things are actually good.In terms of value for the money, if nothing else.
(Not anymore, though.While the rest of us have the RAM-pocalypse to thank for terrible prices, these Minions have been scalped as Pokémon TCG does.) Kevin, the taller Minion, is actually a pretty capable tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router, with support for the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands.It's rated for a combined theoretical bandwidth of 5.4Gbps, with up to 2,402Mbps on each of the 5GHz and 6GHz bands.
You also get 160MHz channel support, WPA3 security, and a 2.5Gbps WAN port.That's a respectable set of specs, especially when you consider that Kevin was selling for just $63 on Amazon before going viral, down from its original retail price of roughly $129.And the specs translated to solid performance, too.
The funniest part is that Kevin actually performs well I can't believe I had to write that As cursed as that might seem, the Kevin router is actually solid.As in, it's been reviewed and deemed to be that way; I'm not just saying it because I love Minions (I don't).RTINGS reviewed this oddity of a router and actually said that it's a "very good router for an apartment or condo." The reviewers praised its impressive peak speeds and 4K streaming capabilities, only complaining about not having enough LAN ports and needing some vertical clearance.
The publication even compared Kevin to some more conventional routers, and deemed it to be a viable option for people who don't necessarily want everything to be Minion-shaped and just want a solid router.What a time to be alive.The Minion does have a few unfortunate limitations A regular router wins Thankfully, this thing does have some downsides, or I'd have lost all of my remaining faith in humanity.
For starters, there's the aforementioned problem of only having one 1Gbps LAN port, which is pretty limiting if you've got multiple wired devices.Sure, there's a 2.5Gbps port, but that's for WAN.RTINGS also noted that Kevin's speeds dropped considerably at longer distances, so it's not suited for larger homes.
The mesh functionality comes with another catch, because Kevin doesn't actually work with other EasyMesh-certified routers.Instead, you're limited to pairing it with Davolink's smaller Minion, Bob, which lacks the 6GHz band entirely.This thing is getting scalped and sold at a markup What in the world...
I thought I'd reached the very depths of misery just seeing these routers, but then, I went to see where I could buy one.Forget Amazon.The old Amazon listing is still live, but it's completely sold out.
I checked eBay, and lo and behold, there they were: some Kevins and one lone Bob Minion up for grabs.But the Kevin sells for around $300, which is more than double its original price, and a whole lot more than the price it sold for in September 2026.I've seen scalpers dealing with GPUs, but this? This thing is the RTX 5090 of the router world.
Maybe routers should be a little more ridiculous As much as I'm bemoaning the fact that these routers even exist, I can't help but appreciate it, too.Maybe I'd have preferred a different design, but hey, finally there's a company out there that dared to do something different instead of going with "sleek and unobtrusive" or "I'm a gamer, and I'll shout about it all I want" in terms of aesthetic.I'd love to see more fun routers, something totally wacky and unapologetic.
I guess that's what these Minions are.It's just a shame that none of us will be able to buy them.Related I stopped manually switching Wi-Fi bands after enabling this one router setting A cryptic name with a simple explanation, and potentially the key to a much better networking experience.
Posts 12 By Sydney Butler
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