Having worked with Ipanema for a while, I can recognise an intuitive user experience for controlling bandwidth. But none is as intuitive as a solution which uses a technology almost everyone can understand. This is what the NetValve offers.
Ilker Dagli has created the ability to manage internet bandwidth using a large brass valve. I know this could be useful for those who have youngsters who appear to be always on the Internet. Indeed, even the Indiegogo site on which he is currently looking for backers states:
Your mom also can limit your bandwidth!
Ilker is a student at the Near East University in Cyprus, according to PCGamer. Unlike any other internet appliance I have seen, the NetValve has a different form factor completely to most appliances. The wooden baseboard contains two Ethernet jacks, and above them mounted in the centre of some steel pipework is a large brass valve with a red handle.
Using the NetValve is simple. Turning the handle adjusts the throughput of the Internet connection. Close the value, and throughput drops. Open the valve and it increases again. There is also a video showing the valve in operation. The video has garnered several thousand hits (and popped up on my Google Feed on the phone this morning).
The campaign might be hampered by theought that prospect buyers may have their Internet feed shut-off by mothers, other halves, siblings or anyone with physical access to the NetValve device.
If you want one, then there is still time to back the campaign, which finishes on 1 November 2017. You can back at various levels, including receiving a fully working NetValve for $79. Join the host of backers, and you too may have a NetValve of your own.
I suspect that the PFY and BOFH are cooking up a rack-mounted version to help their boss part with more money to improve internet performance. Indeed as it is so simple for their boss to operate I’d suspect a booby-trap of some sort in their version. Let’s see if Simon Travaglia works one into a storyline somewhere..