Shared Wi-Fi / wireless broadband access

1. A method, comprising:

detecting, by a subscriber device, one or more potential boost nodes for providing supplemental bandwidth to the subscriber device;

sending, by the subscriber device and to a control server, a list of the one or more potential boost nodes;

requesting, by the subscriber device and via a primary data path, data from a content server;

sending, by the subscriber device and to the control server, a request for supplemental bandwidth; and

receiving, by the subscriber device, a portion of the requested data via the primary data path and another portion of the data from one of the one or more potential boost nodes via a secondary data path that differs from the primary data path.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, by the subscriber device, high bandwidth usage of the primary data path, where sending the request is based on the detecting the high bandwidth usage.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

merging the portion of the data received via the primary data path with the other portion of the data received via the secondary data path.

4. The method of claim 1 , where the primary data path is a digital subscriber line (DSL) path, and where the secondary data path is a wireless path.

5. The method of claim 1 , where the one or more potential boost nodes comprise one or more of:

a dedicated wireless access point for providing supplemental bandwidth,

another subscriber device, or

a portable wireless device.

6. The method of claim 5 , where the one or more potential boost nodes provide the supplemental bandwidth via a wireless network connection.

7. The method of claim 6 , where the wireless network connection is a downlink connection.

8. The method of claim 1 , where the other portion of the data received via the secondary data path is encrypted, and where a decryption key for the encrypted data is received via the primary data path.

9. The method of claim 1 , where the request for supplemental bandwidth includes one or more of:

an identifier for the subscriber device,

an identifier for the content server,

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) session information,

an estimated duration for the request for supplemental bandwidth,

a requested supplemental bandwidth amount, or

information about the requested data from the content server.

10. A computing device-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by the computing device and from a subscriber device, a list of potential boost nodes for providing supplemental bandwidth to the subscriber device;

monitoring, by the computing device, availability of the potential boost nodes;

receiving, by the computing device and from the subscriber device, a request for supplemental bandwidth;

selecting, by the computing device and based on the monitoring, an available node from the list of potential boost nodes; and

sending, by the computing device and to a network device, split-path instructions to:

route a portion of data from a content server to the subscriber device via a primary data path associated with the subscriber device, and

route a different portion of the data from the content server to the subscriber device via the selected available node via a secondary data path that differs from the primary data path.

11. The computing device-implemented method of claim 10 , where monitoring the availability of the potential boost nodes includes identifying real-time bandwidth usage of each of the potential boost nodes.

12. The computing device-implemented method of claim 10 , where selecting an available boost node from the list of potential boost nodes includes:

ranking the potential boost nodes, from the list of potential boost nodes, based on one or more of:

a type of the potential boost node,

an available bandwidth capacity of the potential boost node,

a total bandwidth capacity of the potential boost node, or

network usage costs for the subscriber device; and

selecting a highest ranked potential boost node.

13. The computing device-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:

sending, by the computing device and via the primary data path, a decryption key to enable the subscriber device to decrypt the different portion of the data from the selected available node.

14. The computing device-implemented method of claim 10 , where the request for supplemental bandwidth includes one or more of:

an identifier for the subscriber device,

an identifier for the content server,

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) session information,

an estimated duration for the request for supplemental bandwidth,

a requested supplemental bandwidth amount, or

information about the requested data from the content server.

15. A subscriber device, comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of instructions; and

a processor to execute instructions in the memory to:

detect a potential boost node for providing supplemental bandwidth to the subscriber device,

send, to a control server, an indication of the potential boost node,

request, via a primary data path, data from a content server,

detect high bandwidth usage of the primary data path,

send, to the control server and based on the detected high bandwidth usage, a request for supplemental bandwidth, and

receive a portion of the data via the primary data path and another portion of the data from the potential boost node via a secondary data path that differs from the primary data path.

16. The subscriber device of claim 15 , where the primary data path is a digital subscriber line (DSL) and where the secondary data path is a wireless data path.

17. The subscriber device of claim 16 , where the other portion of the data is encrypted, and where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

receive, via the primary data path, a decryption key for the encrypted data, and

decrypt the other portion of the data received from the potential boost node.

18. The subscriber device of claim 15 , where the subscriber device includes one of:

a home router,

a personal computer,

a laptop computer,

a Voice over IP (VoIP) device,

a personal communications system (PCS) terminal,

a personal digital assistant (PDA),

a smart phone, or

a gaming system.

19. A server device, comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of instructions; and

a processor to execute instructions in the memory to:

receive, from a subscriber device, a list of potential boost nodes for providing supplemental bandwidth to the subscriber device,

monitor availability of the potential boost nodes,

receive, from the subscriber device, a request for supplemental bandwidth,

select, based on the monitoring, an available node from the list of potential boost nodes; and

send, to a network device, a split-path instruction to:

route a portion of data from a content server to the subscriber device via a wired data path associated with the subscriber device, and

route a different portion of the data from the content server to the subscriber device via the selected available node along a wireless data path.

20. The device of claim 19 , where the available node is one of:

a WiFi router,

a wireless access point,

a wireless adapter,

a base station, or

a wireless broadband unit.

21. The device of claim 19 , where the other portion of the data is encrypted, and where the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

send, to the subscriber device and via the primary data path, a decryption key for the encrypted data.

22. The device of claim 19 , where, when selecting the available node from the list of potential boost nodes, the processor is further to execute instructions in the memory to:

rank the available nodes, and

select a highest ranked available node from the list of potential boost nodes.