Can I use Speedify without the VPN server?

Short answer:

It depends on what you need. With the Local Load Balancer mode, you can use Speedify without connecting to a VPN server, but this is not the same as full connection bonding. If you want true bonding with seamless failover and maximum performance, a VPN server is still required.

Longer answer:

Regular Bonding: When bonding connections, Speedify makes connections to the VPN server over each of your Internet connections and can divide traffic on a packet by packet basis among them. The VPN server is the one that provides a consistent endpoint for communicating with servers on the Internet, so those servers on the Internet always see the same public IP address for a request, no matter which of your Internet connections the packets used.

Local Load Balancing: That said, Speedify's  Local Load Balancer mode lets you use multiple Internet connections without connecting to a VPN server at all. In this mode, Speedify routes each connection (socket) to the best available Internet link at the time it's opened and your traffic goes directly to its destination.

The difference between Local Load Balancer and Regular Bonding in Speedify?

With Local Load Balancer mode:

• No VPN server is used. Your traffic goes directly to the Internet, which may be preferable for privacy, latency, or network policy reasons.
• Each request is assigned to one Internet connection and stays there for the duration of that request.
• If that connection drops, the request is broken and must restart on a different connection.

With full Speedify bonding (VPN server mode):

• Traffic is split at the packet level across all your connections simultaneously, giving you combined speeds.
• Speedify can seamlessly transition a request between connections mid-stream without interruption - even for live streams, video calls, file uploads, and other long-running activities.
• You get the full benefit of redundancy and failover without dropping a connection.