Fasterfox is a plugin for the Firefox browser that optimizes its performance and offers various other options for utility. The add-on is free and open source.
Installation & Requirements
To install the plugin, simply go to the webpage while using Firefox and click on the Add to Firefox button. Otherwise, you can download the plugin from a different browser and then use the add-on manager to install it. Fasterfox supports almost all versions of Firefox starting from 2 with no additional requirements.
Interface
To access Fasterfox’s interface and options, you need to get to the Add-on Manager of Firefox. The location differs depending on your version of Firefox but on the latest version you need to click on the Firefox button on the top left corner of the browser and then simply choose Add-ons. You will get a list of your currently installed plugins, including Fasterfox. Double click on it for more information about it, taken from its webpage, or click on Options to access its interface.
The first tab is the Presets one. The default preset for it is Turbo Charged which automatically chooses the best performance settings, both in speed and other general tweaks. Choosing any preset other than the custom will leave you with little customization options. You can always access the Fasterfox tab but there are only two options in there, the Enhanced Prefetching and the Page Load Timer. The first utility will cache links in the background when your bandwidth is idle so that you can browse faster and the Load Timer will enhance your speed. Keep in mind that the Prefetching can break some things so do not use it if you do not know what you are doing.
When you choose the Custom preset you get access to all of the other tabs. You can then edit all of the plugin’s aspects but if you are not tech savvy you will not be able to make much sense out of things like Pipelining. You are better off choosing an already existing preset if you do not know what such things are. If you are experienced though you will find much to like about the vast customization options the application offers. Messing around with the settings is extremely easy and since the changes are done in real time you can immediately put them to test.
Pros
-Fast installation
-A lot of presets
-Deep customization options that more advanced users will adore
-Works well to increase the browsing speed
Cons
-None worth mentioning
Conclusion
Fasterfox really does wonders to increase the speed of Firefox and seeing as how it comes for free, there is no excuse to not install it.
