Speedify Gets You Faster Upload and Download Speeds on Starlink than a Router That Splits Traffic Between Connections

How Starlink Load Balancing Works on a Router, and Where It Falls Short

Starlink load balancing, as business routers from Cisco Meraki, Ubiquiti and others do it, spreads your internet traffic across several internet connections one session at a time. Each video call, download or app gets one internet connection. One video call goes over Starlink, a file download goes over 4G/5G cellular, and another video call goes over a second Starlink dish.

That has two limits for a business:

• No extra speed for any one upload or download. Because each session stays on one internet connection, no single app gets the combined speed of all of them. For example, if your Starlink upload is 20 Mbps, one video upload stays at 20 Mbps however many other internet connections you add.
• Sessions restart when an internet connection fails. When the internet connection carrying a session drops, that session starts over. Internet phone calls drop, video meetings disconnect and company VPN connections reconnect. Your team feels every switch.

So for the big, single jobs that need the most speed (live video uploads, large file transfers, remote desktop over satellite internet, cloud backups), load balancing does not help. The same limit applies to T-Mobile SuperBroadband’s 5G and Starlink service.

How Speedify’s Channel Bonding Speeds Up Your Starlink Internet Connection

Speedify’s channel bonding technology works piece by piece, not session by session. All your internet traffic goes through one encrypted Speedify connection, and Speedify splits it into small pieces and sends them across every internet connection you have (Starlink, 4G/5G cellular, wired Ethernet and Wi-Fi) based on how well each one is working right now. Speedify’s servers put the pieces back together.

The result:

• One session uses every internet connection at once. A video upload through Speedify gets upload speed from Starlink, 4G/5G cellular and Ethernet at the same time, for nearly the full speed of all of them combined.
• Your apps don’t notice a drop. When one internet connection drops, the traffic on it moves to the others straight away. The session keeps going: calls don’t drop, video meetings stay connected and company VPN connections stay up.
• Traffic shifts as conditions change. Speedify keeps checking each internet connection for lost data and sudden delays. When Starlink slows down because the network is busy, Speedify sends more traffic over 4G/5G cellular or Ethernet until Starlink recovers.

Speedify needs at least two internet connections to do this. With one Starlink dish and nothing else, Speedify can’t add speed or stop drops.

Starlink Load Balancing vs. Speedify Bonding: Key Differences

• How traffic is split. Router load balancing splits by session. Speedify splits every session into pieces, so every session gets all your internet connections.
• Speed for one upload or download. Router load balancing limits each session to the speed of one internet connection. Speedify gives a single session the combined speed of all of them.
• What happens when one drops. A router’s switch restarts open sessions. With Speedify, apps never see a disconnection.
• Setup. Router load balancing needs each internet port, routing rules and often per-app rules set up by hand. Speedify finds your internet connections on its own, with no routing to set up for everyday use.
• Where it runs. Router load balancing only works on the router you bought. Speedify is software for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and supported OpenWrt routers, so it runs on hardware you already have or on routers made for it.

How to Use Speedify with Starlink for Your Business

Option 1: Speedify App on Each Device

• Connect each device to your Starlink internet connection and to at least one more internet connection: a 4G/5G cellular hotspot, a wired Ethernet line or a second Starlink dish.
• Install the Speedify app. Speedify runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android.
• Speedify finds all your internet connections and starts using them together on its own.
• Use Speedify Teams to set connection priorities, put data limits on metered 4G/5G cellular connections, and manage every team device from one dashboard.

Option 2: Speedify on a Router

• Connect Starlink and your other internet connections to a router that runs Speedify on OpenWrt. The Miri X510 router powered by Speedify is made for combining several internet connections for a whole network.
• Speedify combines the internet connections and moves traffic when one drops, for every device on the network, with nothing to install on each one.
• Manage it from the Speedify for Routers dashboard.

Which Businesses Get More from Speedify Bonding Than from Router Load Balancing

• Teams that move big files. Businesses that upload large videos, run cloud backups or use remote desktop over satellite internet get more speed from Speedify, because load balancing can’t speed up one big job. Speedify can.
• Operations that run live calls and video over Starlink. Internet phone systems, video meetings and live streams need a steady internet connection with short delays. Speedify moves traffic away from a slow or weakened internet connection as it happens.
• Businesses that can’t have sessions restart. Always-on VPN connections, cloud apps and live payments can’t restart every time an internet connection drops. Speedify keeps them running.
• IT teams running Starlink at many sites. Speedify works the same way at every site, whatever router hardware is already there.
• Managed service providers and resellers. IT companies that need the same setup at every client site get one Speedify Teams dashboard and the same behavior on every device and every mix of internet connections.

Speedify Plans for Using Starlink with Other Internet Connections

Speedify Teams gives your IT team one dashboard for combined Starlink internet connections across the business: connection priorities, data limits, live usage and team devices. Speedify Teams costs $89.99 per user per year, with a 5-user minimum.

If you need a fixed IP address, port forwarding or a server nobody else shares, Speedify Dedicated Servers are available as a managed option. If your data has to stay on your own equipment, Speedify Self-Hosted Servers send Speedify traffic through your own private servers.

The Speedify app runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and supported OpenWrt routers. For a whole network, the Miri X510 router powered by Speedify is the ready-made hardware option.

For businesses: Contact Us to plan Speedify on routers or devices across your sites.

For home users, RVers and boat owners: Download Speedify to combine your Starlink internet connection with your phone’s cellular data, no special router needed.

Speedify Business Solutions

Speedify Teams

Get faster uploads and downloads and a more reliable internet connection for all the people and devices in your business.

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Speedify for Routers

Power your OpenWRT, GL.iNET, or Miri router with Speedify and combine Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4G, 5G, Starlink and other satellite internet connections together.

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Speedify Embedded Solutions and Integrations

Embed Speedify software into your app or hardware products and leverage the core channel bonding technology of Speedify in new and interesting ways.

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