Firefox/Waterfox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

[kikkoman]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

Noticed that too.
I'm not sure which exact update triggered it, but it must have been within the last 1 or 2 months. Even though I have 1.5gigs of RAM, some pages (but not all) really have trouble loading when multiple windows/tabs are opened. They seem to freeze FF for a while, after that they come unstuck and finish loading.
Strangely, the used RAM doesn't even free up partially until I completely close FF.
I must say this really sucks.
I'm pretty sure there are tons of pages that discuss this issue, but I haven't searched yet. Wanted to try out the v3 beta anyway. I'll see what happens.

[WNG]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

I've noticed the exact same symptoms as those you've described.
Hmmm.

I think I'll revert to 1.5x or even 1.08 for the old systems with 256MB. Just so the systems don't bog.

[Bookworm]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

Supposedly, the newest Firefox (Beta2 is out, so you can try it if you want) is designed to address those problems.

Mind you, IE7 takes approximately three times the ram of IE6 on the systems where I've gone back and forth. I haven't noticed that IE is any better on ram than Firefox. (Yes, Firefox used 640 megs of ram on me, but then, that's why I have 2 gigs, and I'd had over forty different web sites open for four days)

[barryc]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

Yep. Works great. Thanks.

Also, if you want to avoid the defrag woes and the popups and all the other hassles,
try PCLinuxOS. All the goodies that Vista promises without the bloat and the viruses, adware, etc, etc., goto www.pclinuxos.com, download PCLinuxOS2007.iso, burn to cd or DVD, pop into cd or dvd player and reboot.

PCLinuxOS will run off the CD/DVD (Live) so you can try it without installing to your hard drive. If you like it (and you will), then relogin as root and click on the install icon on the root desktop and it will walk you through the install onto your harddrive.

About 2 GB of open source software comes installed on the live cd. Open Office, Firefox, Thunderbird, The Gimp (Photoshop clone) and much more.

Fantastic distro designed for Windows users who don't want to fight using the command line that most people think is required when using Linux.

[bgavin]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

I'm a new convert to Firefox 3.03. I did this because FF and Safari are the two most standards-adherent browsers.

I've started an intense course in web coding, and found out quickly that IE6 is a web coder's nightmare. Pity, as I really prefer the IE6 interface over any of the other Microsoft offerings. I refuse to use IE7 for this reason.

The final selling point for Firefox is the Firebug plug-in for developers. FF has an interface close enough to IE6 that I'm happy. Several problematic web sites I visit regularly with IE6 are no longer problems with FF. Even in the out-of-box installation, FF303 is noticeably faster than IE6.

Thanks to TC for the broadband tweaks. I will install them today and see what happens.

[Fizzycapola]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

The default settings in FF3 I think are a bit optimistic. 15 connections per server. Why would you need so many connections to one server. I have not come across a situation where 15 produces optimal page load speed. I worked out 10 is good. But for fastest ebay and forum maybe even lower.

[agraham]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

Why would you need so many connections to one server.

Why wouldn't you? You want enough connections to saturate your downlink. Any less and you're leaving bandwidth on the table. Any more and you're delaying your rendering because assets are blocking each other from downloading. That number's going to be different for everyone based on their pipe and their average throughput to different sites.

[blowing_in_the_watts]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

actually i was wondering why firefox wasnt doing such a great job of caching images. well if i check tools/options/cache it is default 50mb which is pretty small i guess for the amount of surfing i do. at the moment i set it to 1gb and all is ok. i guess i should clear the cache periodically also.

lol thats way better than what IE does which is default 10% of your entire hard disk

as a pc fixer i tend to find drives literally where each user has nearly 10gigs of IE temp files..........
each user........
on a 120gig drive

yeah, leave it at 50


when i see that stuff in IE i immediately lower it to measly 8mb and give it back to the user that way when im done...

[PerryP]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

Thanks for this tip. Wasn't aware of the possibility to tweak FF settings this way.

[Professor Peach]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

I've found the best way to speed-up firefox is to use chrome.

[Chris Ambriz]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

I did the tweaking to firefox and it now loads in less than a second. I have one question though will this cause harm to the servers or cause the I.S.P. providers to hassle me?

[heebakutty]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

i duly applied the above mentioned tweeks, but on checking my speed using

http://www.ip-details.com/internet-speed-test/ the speed never inceased it remaind the same 5 Mbps,

but my browsing speed and performance was much better now with out any glitches

[jctan22]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

there is significant changes in my browsing speed ,implementing this tweaking procedure....thanks ..cheers

[LuSiD]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

Thank you for this! Really helpful!

[ThePCDoctor]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

It's funny, those adjustments of FF have been around for a while and now they are slowly finding their way into new releases of Firefox. I do apply them every time I install Firefox on one of my own PC's or on a customer's PC. They Work!

I also add the non-IE versions of Flash Player and Shockwave.
Installing the "Coral I.E.Tab" add-on lets you get to those I.E. specific web sites without ever leaving FF. (even MS Updates)

One more thing I've found that can speed up your Internet, is optimizing the connection settings (77 of them) in Windows. The only program that I've ever found that can do this effectively is the somewhat new "AVG Tune-UP".
Sorry guys, it's NOT FREE. But, optimizing the Internet Connection is only one of several very useful apps. I'd buy the program, just for that one app.

Great thread!

[Rulycat]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

To the people who are complaining about Firefox getting slower and fatter with every release, the focus now is on speed and memory usage. Firefox 7 is suppsoed to half memory usage compared to Firefox 4 - Firefox 7 comes out on Tuesday.

[shovenose]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

Firefox 7 does indeed use a lot less RAM than 6, 5, or 4. It actually runs decently on my 256MB computer :P
Firefox 6, on the other hand...chokes!

[probe64322]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

Many thanx Topcat, a great help, this is why i like helping people where i can. This looks like i made the right decision to join up.
Thanx again.

[ThePCDoctor]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

I just upgraded FF to ver 12.0 and the tweaks still work.

It also helps, if your PC is not loaded down with Services and TSR's sucking the life blood out of your PC. Trim off the fat and FF and many other programs will work a lot better.
PC optimization is what I've done for a living, for the past 30 years.

Cheers mates!
The PC Doctor

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Firefox and Broadband users, READ THIS!!

The other day, I had a problem with Firefox using almost 1 GB of RAM with just 2 tabs!
That was when I wasn't even on YouTube! O_O That was a WTF moment.