The Situation with External Hardware on Mac Compared to Windows or Linux
Quick answer
Should you have a backup 4G, 5G, Starlink, or cable internet connection?
Yes — every internet connection goes down, including Starlink, which drops for ~34 minutes a day on average. A backup connection from a different provider means one outage never takes you fully offline. The most common options are a 4G/5G cellular hotspot, a cable or DSL line, or a second satellite dish.
4G/5G cellular
Works anywhere. Just a SIM or hotspot — no installation needed.
Learn more →Cable / DSL
Best for fixed locations. Different network, so outages rarely overlap.
Learn more →Second Starlink
Adds redundancy and throughput for remote sites or heavy usage.
Learn more →Speedify bonds any two connections into one — automatic failover, more speed, no dropped calls.
Try free →
Speedify Feature · Pair & Share
Speedify Pair & Share: share cellular between your devices, both ways
Most hotspots give. Speedify's Pair & Share gives and takes. Two devices running Speedify pair up and each uses the other's cellular connection simultaneously, so you both get faster uploads, faster downloads, and a steadier connection. No extra hardware, no new data plans, no setup beyond a tap.
Learn how Speedify's Pair & Share works ›More speed
Every device you pair with adds its cellular to yours, and yours to theirs.
Stays connected
If a paired device drops out, Speedify keeps you online on the remaining links.
Always private
Every shared connection runs through AES-256 encryption. Your traffic is yours.
No new gear
Runs on devices already running Speedify, over your local network. Pair once, reconnects automatically.
Why Apple Restricted Kernel Access for Mac
Ryan: How is kernel access different on Mac versus Windows and Linux?
Alex Gizis: Somewhere around 2020, Apple just locked down the kernel. They do not allow any drivers from anyone but them, no matter what the situation. Where both, Windows and Linux, lets you write your own drivers to add things to the kernel, and it is absolutely impossible on the Mac.
Ryan: None at all?
Alex Gizis: No. Apple is aware that there are some situations where it's legitimate. If you have a new USB dongle, you need a driver for it, so they've created something called DriverKit, where you can write a driver to talk to your new hardware, but it runs in User space.
Their kernel module is asking your driver out there in regular space: "what should I do about this new device?" And if you crash, whatever device stops working, the Mac doesn't crash.
Speedify is a VPN. We need to be able to intercept packets out of the kernel. They've written a driver and given us something called the network extension where we can write code and they pass us out packets. We say what to do with them and pass them back. They've absolutely locked it down.
Apple Kernel Drivers Lockdown Impact on Wi-Fi Hardware Compatibility
Ryan: Why is Apple allowed to have that restriction and Microsoft isn't?
Alex Gizis: When it comes to the Mac, what do they have? 10 percent market share? They're not falling under antitrust concerns.
Ryan: Is that why there are no third party Wi-Fi dongles on the Mac?
Alex Gizis: Yes. Before 2000, you could go to Amazon, buy a USB Wi-Fi card and it will come with drivers for both the Mac and Windows. And now there aren't. They only come with Windows. They don't work on Apple. The only thing you can get is Apple cards for Apple. In fact, it's only the ones that come built into the Mac.
I don't see any reason why you couldn't write a Wi-Fi driver in DriverKit. But I might just be missing something because no one has. None of these cards come with a driver for Mac at all anymore. You are just stuck with what comes with your Mac.
Ryan: Yes, I think they ended that round 2019 or 2020 'cause I made speed a unified tutorial video back then about how to combine two Wi-Fi connections on Mac and then I updated that and I can't do it anymore.
Alex Gizis: They had, I remember that. That was brutal. It really hurt us.
Ryan: Yes. Kept getting comments like, I can't do this. Why doesn't it work?
Connectivity Tech Discussions
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