A great little tool for optimizing Wi-Fi usage

A while back (when my laptop chewed through my entire ANA data plan in like 4 minutes) I lamented the fact that laptops don't have the sophisticated data-throttling controls that smart phones do. One of my readers told me about a cool tool for MacOS and Windows that enables these types of controls for your laptop (or desktop) computer. It's called TripMode.


It's US$8, there's a free trial, and you can pay by several means, including Apple Pay. Installation is simple, and once it's launched you have a task bar item that lets you selectively enable internet access for various applications and services. You can completely disable TripMode whenever you want. One cool thing I like about the preferences is that you can tell it to speak every time it blocks something (e.g., "Application Calendar was blocked"). This gives you a great sense of how many things are silently sucking bandwidth when you're not even thinking about it.

selectively and instantly block access to the internet for various apps

Configurable schedules, profiles, and notifications

While I've been loving JetBlue's unlimited, fast, free wi-fi, I'm not sure that it's going to catch on worldwide, especially on long-haul flights with foreign carriers. Given how expensive trans-oceanic wi-fi can be, this $8 app could easily pay for itself in a single session. Even if you're not on a pay-by-megabyte wi-fi plan, having a tool like this could help speed up your onboard internet usage by preventing your computer from doing other, competing things over a slow connection.







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