9 Steps to Speed Up
Broadband Firefox Browsing

If you’d like to significantly decrease your broadband load time in Firefox, follow these simple instructions to change defaults originally set to accommodate dial-up users.

Step 1: Open Firefox and type about:config in the address bar where you normally type a web address.
Config

Step 2: In the filter bar below the address bar type network.
Network Filter

Step 3: Double-click on network.http.pipelining to change the setting from false to true.
Pipelining

Step 4: On the line below network.http.pipelining double-click on network.http.pipelining.maxrequests and change the number to 10.
10

Step 5: Two lines below network.http.pipelining.maxrequests double-click on network.http.proxy.pipelining to change the value from false to true.
Pipelining

Step 6: Several lines above network.http.proxy.pipelining you’ll see network.http.max-persistant-connections-per-proxy and network.http.max-persistant-connections-per-server. Double-click each line and change the value to 8.
Persistent

Step 7: Two lines up locate and double-click on network.http.max-connections and set the value to 48.
Maximum Connections

Step 8: Now right-click (control-click on a Mac) anywhere in the configurator (the area where you’ve been making the changes). Select New then Integer. When prompted, copy and paste or type the following into the field provided: nglayout.initialpaint.delay.
Integer

When prompted to add a value, enter the number 0.
Value

Step 9: Close all windows and tabs. The changes will take effect when you restart Firefox.

These changes allow Firefox to make multiple server connections and will speed up page downloads for better, more efficient use of your broadband connection.


 

Comments

  1. Jeff Says:

    Sweet! Much faster…

    Thanks!

  2. Tim Says:

    For some uber-geek fun check out:
    http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_:_FAQs_:_About:config_Entries

    It gives info on the configs and their options. Note that if you copy/paste from the list to the config Filter you may not find them as spaces are added so they don’t exactly match
    (e.g. ‘network. http. pipelining’ should be ‘network.http.pipelining’)

    Also for more info on pipelining check out:
    http://www.mozilla.org/projects/netlib/http/pipelining-faq.html

  3. Phil O'Halloran Says:

    I got bogged down on step 8 “Right click anywhere in the configurator..”. when I right click no options apear. It just selects the lines (e.g. “pipelining”)
    I should point out I’m in Camino, which is Firefox for the Mac, so it could be different.

  4. illig Says:

    @ Jeff: Great, glad to hear it. The tip is not altogether new but I tried to make it easy to implement with Illustrations.

    @ Tim: Thanks for covering the Uber crowd among us. Thanks for the added insights.

    @ Phil: I changed the instructions to read “…right-click (control-click for a Mac)…” and Camino may not correlate directly with my Firefox instructions. There are, for instance, specific instructions to optimize IE as well, etc.

    Thanks all for commenting.

  5. links for 2007-04-27 « General Musings Says:

    […] 9 Steps to Speed UpBroadband Firefox Browsing (tags: lifehacks internet) Posted by bartcaylor Filed in Uncategorized […]

  6. Mike Says:

    this is good…..but here is a way to do the same thing, but a lot less time. www.fasterfox.com it will do the same thing in as a plug-in.

  7. illig Says:

    @ Mike: If true, I’m all for making an efficiency tip more efficient yet. Thanks.

  8. Michael Says:

    If firefox is soooooo cool, why on Earth is the web flooded with sites just lke this offering ways to speed it up. F*** you all.. I’m sticking with IE at least that way I don’t have to rely on people with no qualifications to provide upgrades.
    Firefox = f***wits

  9. illig Says:

    @Michael: Forgive the edits—some of our other readers might not appreciate the emphasis. I considered posting links to several sites that show how to speed up IE but decided you were likely already aware of them. Thanks for commenting.

  10. Mr.Amazing Says:

    ok seriously anyone using IE is the biggest nooooob. IE is horrible, and firefox is practialy open source and safe, where IE gives you everything you would want… like adaware, spyware, rootkits, i have written several myself to screw over my school computers. Cmon dude FIREFOX ALL THE WAY. And thanx for the tut because i noticed a great speed increase, TY !!

  11. Speed Up Firefox » 404 Creative Design Studios » Design Observations, Reviews and General Musings About Creatve Stuff Says:

    […] Want to speed up Firefox a bit? The default settings are geared towards dialup users and if you’re on a broadband connection, you can make a few tweaks to speed firefox up considerably. I walked through the few simple steps and have seen a noticable difference. Take a couple of minutes and try it out for yourself. 9 Steps to Speed Up Broadband Firefox Browsing Tags: browsers, firefox Kevin FlahautCreative Director/Designer at 404 Creative Studios. http://www.404creative.com […]

  12. 9 Steps to Speed Up Broadband Firefox Browsing | LevelTen Blog Says:

    […] Kevin shot me a link this morning to 9 Steps to Speed Up Broadband Firefox Browsing. The whole 9 step process took about 3 minutes and it really worked. It may be a little buggy on a PC though. I’m having some issues - not sure if they’re related though. I’ll let ya know. […]

  13. 9 Steps To Speedup Broadband Firefox Browsing | LevelTen Blog Says:

    […] Kevin shot me a link this morning to 9 Steps to Speed Up Broadband Firefox Browsing. The whole 9 step process took about 3 minutes and it really worked. It may be a little buggy on a PC though. I’m having some issues - not sure if they’re related though. I’ll let ya know. […]

  14. Firefox için daha hızlı download ayarı » Bildirim.net Says:

    […] Firefox web tarayıcısı ile, 9 adımlık bir ayar sonucunda internette daha hızlı dolaĹźabilir, daha hızlı download yapabilirsiniz. burdaki resimli anlatımdan da faydalanabilirsiniz. […]

  15. Joe Says:

    the tweaking for speeding up firefox was good. i say keep up the good work.

  16. illig Says:

    @Joe: Thanks for stopping by, Joe—glad to hear it worked for you.

  17. Bart Says:

    Another great resource for other Firefox Tricks:
    http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/15-coolest-firefox-tricks-ever.html

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