Which Connections Should You Bond with Speedify?

Speedify is a channel-bonding VPN that combines multiple internet connections into a single, more reliable and faster connection. However, not all connections work well together. Here’s what to consider when choosing which connections to bond—and which combinations to avoid.

Connections With Similar Performance

While Speedify can work with a wide range of connections, bonding works best when the connections have similar bandwidth and latency characteristics. If one connection is 10x faster or 10x higher latency than another, then the connections might not combine well. In those cases, it is best to assign the slower connection to BACKUP priority in Speedify, so it is still available to use if the faster connection fails.

Multiple 4G/5G Connections From the Same Provider

Using multiple mobile connections from the same provider is not recommended. Since both connections rely on the same network infrastructure (often the same cell towers), you won’t gain much redundancy. If you enter a low-coverage area or the tower experiences issues, both connections will drop simultaneously. Additionally, while each connection in isolation might reach speeds a particular speed, bonding two from the same provider doesn’t necessarily double your speed; instead, they may compete for bandwidth, limiting performance gains.

Multiple 4G/5G Connections From Different Providers

Using mobile connections from different providers can improve reliability, but only if those providers operate on separate infrastructure. If both providers use the same cell towers in your area, the redundancy benefit is lost. Always check if your chosen networks have distinct coverage.

Multiple Starlink Connections

Bonding multiple Starlink connections is feasible. Since Starlink dynamically connects to different satellites, two dishes may not always use the same one. However, because both connections still rely on the same network backend, any widespread Starlink outage will affect all of them. To ensure true redundancy, consider pairing Starlink with a different type of connection, such as 4G/5G or even DSL.

Multiple Wi-Fi Connections

When combining multiple wireless connections, there is the potential for wireless interference between them. Even if two Wi-Fi connections are using completely different Internet connections, if they are operating on the same wireless channel or conflicting wireless channels, they may conflict with each other. This has become less of a problem as wireless standards and hardware have improved and more wireless channels and bands are available to use, but it is worth checking what wireless channel each router is using and if possible isolating it on a different channel from other surrounding wireless networks.

Multiple Fiber, Cable, Dial-up or Fixed Wireless Lines From the Same Provider

Bonding wired connections (fiber, cable, DSL, or fixed wireless) works well, but only if you have separate service plans from your ISP. If you try to bond Wi-Fi and Ethernet from the same router on a single plan, Speedify won’t increase performance, as both connections share the same bandwidth. Additionally, if the ISP experiences an outage, all bonded connections from that provider could go down together.

Satellite Connections (other than Starlink)

Traditional satellite internet is typically slow and has high latency. Bonding it with other connections is not recommended because the increased latency will drag down overall performance. Instead, satellite is best used as a backup in case all other connections fail.

For more tips on improving performance when bonding multiple connections, check the this article:

https://support.speedify.com/article/727-why-speedify-slow

Diversifying your internet connections is the best way to ensure maximum reliability and performance when using Speedify. While bonding multiple connections from the same provider—like two Starlink dishes—can still offer improved speed and redundancy, the best results come from mixing different types of connections.