Speedify VPN Review – Faster Speeds Through Channel Bonding

In the crowded VPN market, Speedify aims to stand out with a unique technology called channel bonding. By allowing you to combine multiple internet connections simultaneously, like Wi-Fi and cellular data, Speedify promises faster, more stable performance than other VPNs.

But channel bonding is just one piece of the puzzle. In this in-depth Speedify review, we‘ll analyze all aspects of the service, including its security, privacy policy, ability to unblock region-locked content, pricing, and more. By the end, you‘ll have a clear idea if Speedify is the right VPN for your needs.

How Speedify Works

Most VPNs route your internet traffic through a single server in a location of your choosing. Speedify takes a different approach with its channel bonding technology.

When you connect to Speedify, the app detects all available internet connections, such as Wi-Fi, Ethernet, cellular, and tethered devices. You can then choose which of these connections to "bond" together. Speedify will intelligently split your traffic between these connections for optimal performance.

The potential benefits of channel bonding are:

• Faster speeds: By utilizing the combined bandwidth of multiple connections, Speedify can achieve higher download and upload speeds than a single connection.
• Lower latency: Speedify‘s algorithms aim to send each packet of data over the fastest connection available at that moment for reduced lag.
• Seamless failover: If one connection drops, Speedify instantly shifts traffic to the other without interrupting your session.

Channel bonding is especially useful for:

• Areas with unreliable internet, like hotels and airports
• Bandwidth-heavy tasks like HD video streaming and large file transfers
• Mobile devices that frequently switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data

Speedify uses 256-bit AES encryption to secure your traffic over both bonded and single connections. The company operates servers in 50+ countries and follows a strict no-logging policy.

Other notable features include:

• Internet kill switch to prevent data leaks if VPN connection drops
• Split tunneling to route some traffic outside the VPN
• Link redundancy to maintain connection if one network fails
• Built-in speed test
• Dedicated streaming servers
• 5 simultaneous connections

Speedify Speed Tests

To put Speedify‘s performance claims to the test, I ran speed tests on my 100 Mbps home broadband connection, both with and without the VPN.

Speedify off

• Download: 98.12 Mbps
• Upload: 11.89 Mbps
• Ping: 8 ms

Speedify on – nearby server

• Download: 92.45 Mbps
• Upload: 11.42 Mbps
• Ping: 12 ms

Speedify on – distant server

• Download: 44.96 Mbps
• Upload: 10.54 Mbps
• Ping: 158 ms

As you can see, Speedify only reduced download speed by about 6% when connected to a nearby server, which is impressive. Even on a distant server thousands of miles away, download speed remained fast enough for HD video streaming.

I also tested Speedify‘s channel bonding by connecting both Wi-Fi and cellular data on my phone. On Wi-Fi alone, I averaged 32 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up. After bonding a weak LTE connection, speeds increased to 39 Mbps down and 12 Mbps up – a noticeable improvement.

Your results with channel bonding will vary depending on the quality of your individual connections, but it‘s a unique feature that can potentially speed up your VPN unlike most competitors. Just keep in mind that channel bonding will consume data on all connections used.

Security and Privacy

Speedify secures your traffic with industry-standard 256-bit AES encryption. The app uses the OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols, which are both fast and secure. However, it does not support the newer WireGuard protocol that some other VPNs have adopted recently.

Speedify‘s privacy policy is straightforward: the company does not log any identifying information about your online activity, including the IP addresses you connect from, the servers you access, the websites you visit, or the content of your traffic.

The only data Speedify collects is bandwidth usage to enforce free account limits, the number of parallel sessions to enforce device limits, and email addresses for account management and newsletters. Your account is tied to a randomly generated ID number instead of your personal information.

For maximum privacy, you can sign up to Speedify anonymously using a burner email and pay with cryptocurrency. The company is based in the privacy-friendly United States and is not subject to mandatory data retention laws.

Speedify protects you from various security threats:

• IP/DNS/WebRTC leaks: I tested Speedify for leaks and found none
• Public Wi-Fi hackers: Encryption makes your traffic unreadable to snoopers
• ISP monitoring: Your ISP only sees that you‘re using a VPN
• Network-level malware: Less risk of infection when connected to Speedify

The app includes an internet kill switch that blocks all traffic if the VPN disconnects unexpectedly to prevent your real IP address from being exposed. But this feature is currently only available on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android TV apps – not Linux or regular Android.

Streaming and Torrenting

Many people use VPNs to access geoblocked streaming content or hide their identity when torrenting. Speedify offers dedicated streaming-optimized servers and allows P2P filesharing on all its servers.

I tested Speedify‘s unblocking abilities with several popular streaming services. The results were hit or miss:

• Netflix: Inconsistent, worked on some U.S. servers but not all
• Hulu: Worked on most U.S. servers
• BBC iPlayer: Did not work on any UK servers
• Disney+: Worked on most U.S. servers
• Amazon Prime Video: Did not work in my tests
• HBO Max: Worked on some U.S. servers
• U.S. sports leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL): Mostly worked with U.S. servers

Speedify had no issues accessing less-strict services like YouTube, Spotify, and Pandora. Connection speeds were sufficient for buffer-free HD and 4K streams.

While Speedify isn‘t the most reliable VPN for streaming, its channel bonding tech can help minimize buffering by dynamically routing traffic over the fastest connection at any given time. Just be aware that streaming over cellular data will quickly eat through your monthly allowance.

Speedify is a good choice for torrenting thanks to its fast speeds, unlimited bandwidth, and strict no-logging policy. It achieved average download speeds of 8.5 MB/s during my P2P tests, which is solid. The app has a built-in kill switch for added leak protection, but it‘s missing advanced features like split tunneling and port forwarding offered by some other torrent-friendly VPNs.

Pricing and Value

Speedify offers three pricing plans:

• Monthly: $14.99/month
• Yearly: $71.99/year ($5.99/month)
• 2-Year: $95.99 every 2 years ($4.00/month)

You can connect up to 5 devices simultaneously with a single subscription. The company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans.

Speedify accepts payment via credit card, PayPal, and Amazon Pay. Unfortunately, there‘s no cryptocurrency option for anonymous payments.

While Speedify‘s monthly plan is priced at the upper end of the VPN market, its yearly and 2-year plans are much more competitive. There are a handful of cheaper long-term VPN subscriptions out there, but most don‘t offer Speedify‘s channel bonding technology.

To get a feel for the service before committing to a paid plan, you can try Speedify for free. The free plan includes access to all server locations and features, including channel bonding, but limits you to 2 GB of data transfer per month. That‘s enough for light web browsing but not much else.

Overall, Speedify is a good value if you‘ll take advantage of its standout features. But if standard VPN performance is all you need, there are more affordable options.

Ease of Use

You don‘t need to be a tech expert to use Speedify. The app features a clean, intuitive interface that displays your connection status, current speed, data usage, and server location at a glance.

Tapping the connect button automatically connects you to the fastest server based on your location. You can also expand the server list to manually select your preferred location.

Speedify offers native apps for every major platform:

• Windows 7 through 11
• macOS 10.12 and later
• iOS 12.1 and later
• Android 5.0 and later
• Android TV
• Amazon Fire TV
• Linux (command-line only)

In my testing, the apps were stable and easy to navigate on all devices. Connection times were quick, with most servers connecting in under 5 seconds. The mobile apps use a slimmed down interface but include the core features.

You can dig into the settings menu to configure Speedify to your liking:

• Enable/disable individual internet connections
• Allow or disable Speedify on certain Wi-Fi networks
• Automatically connect on device startup
• Enable internet kill switch (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android TV)
• Choose preferred protocol (OpenVPN UDP/TCP or IKEv2)
• Toggle data usage statistics and alerts
• Adjust proxy settings

Power users may be disappointed by the lack of advanced options, but Speedify covers the essentials and keeps things simple enough for VPN newbies.

Customer Support

If you run into any issues with Speedify, you can access support resources directly in the app or on the website.

The knowledgebase offers setup guides and troubleshooting articles organized by platform and topic. The articles are clearly written with helpful screenshots. There‘s also an FAQ section that covers general questions.

For direct assistance, you can contact Speedify‘s support team via:

• Live text chat on website
• Email contact form on website
• Email: [email protected]

I tested Speedify‘s email support with some questions about channel bonding and streaming. The response came 14 hours later, which is about average, and the support rep seemed knowledgeable.

Phone and social media support are not available, and Speedify lacks the 24/7 live chat offered by some competitors. But the provided support avenues should be sufficient for most users.

Final Thoughts

Speedify is a unique VPN service that delivers innovative performance and privacy features at a reasonable price. Let‘s recap the highlights:

• Channel bonding technology that combines multiple connections for faster, smoother performance
• Strong encryption, leak protection, and strict no-logging policy
• Dedicated streaming servers, P2P support on all servers
• User-friendly apps for all major devices
• Competitive pricing on long-term plans
• Cons: inconsistent streaming access, no WireGuard protocol, limited advanced features

So who is Speedify best for? I‘d recommend it to:

• Users with multiple internet connections who want to harness the combined speed and stability
• Frequent travelers who rely on public Wi-Fi and deal with spotty connections
• Mobile users looking to lower latency and prevent interruptions when switching between Wi-Fi and data
• Bandwidth-heavy users who stream 4K content or transfer large files
• Privacy-conscious users who want a verified no-logs policy

On the flip side, Speedify is not the best choice for users who prioritize:

• Reliably unblocking popular streaming sites
• Advanced features like split tunneling, multi-hop, and port forwarding
• The absolute lowest long-term price
• Anonymous payment methods

Still unsure if Speedify is right for you? Take advantage of the free plan or 30-day money-back guarantee to test it out risk-free. With easy-to-use apps and fast performance powered by channel bonding, Speedify is a compelling VPN option for many users.

Speedify VPN – 4.5 / 5