The Premise. Setting up a smart, connected home network is an exciting process that opens up the possibility to efficiency and home automation. However, the security-conscious will also have in place adequate digital protection and firewalls, which can prevent these devices from being accessed from anywhere except the home network.
The Product. Nabtobox is a little device that can be connected to any home network behind a firewall to enable one-touch access from mobile devices to connect to the network securely behind the firewall but not be denied access from afar. The basic principles behind the box are those found in peer to peer networking, VPNs, and port tunneling, without any of the shady elements of those activities. Nabtobox provides access without sacrificing security, plain and simple.
The Pitch. Nabtobox isn’t a flashy or sexy concept for most people, and so the pitch video is appropriately scaled down to match. Still, there’s a sort of human element to it that makes it enjoyable to watch and easy to relate to. Nabto are out to raise $75,000 for their plucky little device in order to bring it to the masses at large. At $125,000, Nabto will include a GPIO PIN header, and at $250,000 will include virtual USB access.
The Perks. The tech-savvy can get their hands on incomplete alpha and beta versions and bring them up to full speed for $29 and $34 respectively, to arrive in August for alpha and September for beta. The first release model will be launched in October for $39 and will need some new firmware updates to reach maximum potential. The market-ready version is $49 and will be out in November.
The Potential. This is a nice little idea that can make remote connectivity to a complete, and more importantly, secure home network a reality. However, the catch here is that setting up a home network isn’t always a cakewalk either, depending on what the desired setting and devices are, and so putting one in place already requires a bit of tech savvy. Probably enough to take the necessary steps to get by without a Nabtobox. Still, there are certainly enough people out there who just want what’s only going to be easy to set up and control, whether at home or from a distance, and for those people, Nabtobox looks like the right addition to get everything exactly the way it should be. After all, that’s the whole point of a connected home system.
Getting kids to unplug from their devices and go outside or study is one of the great struggles of the 21st century. Existing blocking or limiting solutions are inflexible and often require a parent on call in order to work correctly.