Connectify is back on Kickstarter hoping to crowdfund a new application that combines multiple internet connections to give you faster access to everything on the internet. Connectify Switchboard works by aggregating all available internet connections on your computer, and then balancing the load between them.
Last year, Connectify successfully funded and launched Dispatch, an application with similar functionality but limited to Windows operating systems and specific applications. In contrast, rather than running as a client-side application, Switchboard operates as a cloud service and allows users to leverage the combined speeds of their connections for any application on Mac of PC.
Connectify claims that by connecting your computer to their Switchboard "Speed Servers," they can add up all the bandwidth available and deliver about 95% of the combined throughput of all connections. Switchboard works with wi-fi, 3G, 4G, and ethernet connections, and they say that it runs transparently. According to the company, after setting things up, users will never even know when they are using it.
Switchboard works by using what they call "channel bonding technology." For example, when you open your web browser and request a web page, the browser opens multiple connections to the host server to download each individual part of the page, including individual images, HTML, and other data files. When these connections, called sockets, are made, Switchboard's Speed Servers spread out the packets from each request between the available connections. Because the software works on the packet level, Connectify says that even single socket applications like Netflix and Hulu will benefit.
Connectify is asking for $100,000 to get the project rolling, which will fund finishing the UI, building the Mac application, and deploying additional Speed Servers globally. The campaign runs through June 13, and available packages range from $60-250 for 10-250GB of data/month.