# Why the FCC ban caught Minions routers

> Viral Minions-shaped routers from Davolink are caught by the same foreign-made router ban as TP-Link, blocking new models and limiting updates.
- Title: Why the FCC ban caught Minions routers · Engadget | Shortify
- Summary: Viral Minions-shaped routers from Davolink are caught by the same foreign-made router ban as TP-Link, blocking new models and limiting updates. The FCC's…
- Keywords: davolink, minions routers, fcc ban, foreign-made routers, wi-fi 6e, network security, technology, FCC, ban, caught, Minions, routers
- Source: Engadget — https://engadget.com/2296043/why-does-the-fcc-hate-minions-routers
- Author: Luke James
- Published: 2026-10-27T16:45:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: davolink, minions routers, fcc ban, foreign-made routers, wi-fi 6e, network security, technology
## Minions routers went viral
South Korean company Davolink makes Kevin and Bob, Minions-shaped Wi-Fi routers. An X post last month called Kevin one of the best Wi-Fi six E routers money can buy, drawing millions of impressions and selling…

> one of the best Wi-Fi 6E routers money can buy
## The FCC banned foreign routers
Since March, the FCC has banned all new foreign-made network routers from getting authorization to sell in the US unless the manufacturer has an exemption.ASUS, Eero and Netgear all have exemptions, but Davolink does not.
## What Kevin and Bob can do
Kevin, the DVW-six thirty two, is a tri-band Wi-Fi six E router nine point six inches tall with a two point five gigabits per second WAN port and an AXE five thousand four hundred rating.
## Kevin matches TP-Link's performance
Kevin's AXE five thousand four hundred rating puts it in the same class as TP-Link's Archer AXE seventy five.
## How the ban was triggered
The FCC added routers produced in a foreign country to its Covered List on March twenty third, triggered by a national security determination from an interagency body convened by the White House three days earlier.
## Existing routers stay legal but frozen
Kevin and Bob were authorized between November twenty twenty three and February twenty twenty four, so they can still be imported, sold and used.
## No new Minions routers coming
Davolink has not publicly said whether it applied for a Conditional Approval exemption. Without one, no Wi-Fi seven Minion will reach the US market, and firmware updates for Kevin and Bob are only guaranteed through…
## Key takeaway

The FCC's March ban on foreign-made routers blocks Davolink's viral Minions routers from new US sales and limits firmware updates to the end of twenty twenty-eight.