Apart from the new Unity Interface in Ubuntu 11.04 , another problem users might be facing might be in case of browsing ,i.e the default browser Firefox 4 is not going well or slow and sluggish in Ubuntu 11.04.This specific problem persists for several users using the latest Ubuntu , and in many Ubuntu supporting forums , quests are referred on this issues many are preferring latest Google chrome over Firefox.
Look at the below quest asked by some Ubuntu user in one of Ubuntu forums [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1770414]
“I don’t know if others are experiencing this but browsing is extremely slow in Firefox after “upgrading” to ubuntu 11.04. I have not tried other browsers. Even checking for updates fails several times.I had to re-boot to windows to post this thread and now it’s working fine. It’s been 3 days since upgrading and I’ve observed many times that there’s no such problem in windows while I have to wait like 4-5 minutes and refresh many times to open a single page. Some sites like google are quicker though. I use Firefox 4.0 both in ubuntu and windows. I didn’t have this problem in 10.10 and it took me about 5 hrs. to download 1 GB upgrade packages.Strangely torrents are working well in ubuntu.”
Now most users facing the FF problem are leaning towards Chrome .And to an extend Chrome new JavaScript rendering is pretty much fast as reported by WebStats.The Instant Web page Load[rendering web pages fast as you type in URL bar/omni box] and instant search support have trending users to prefer Chrome.More many extensions are avail in chrome too.
Installing Chrome in Ubuntu 11.04
It’s as you know Pretty easy , just Go to its official website and download the Debian Package. is the latest one.[http://www.google.com/chrome/].Download the Google Chrome for Ubuntu 11.04.Open the saved file with Ubuntu Software Center (Right Click on the Package, then select Open With USC; click on install Button to proceed) .Now Some might face problems on installing Chrome from Software Center.So prefer the Terminal instead.Go to Terminal & Use the dpkg command to install the package. To install from the command line, type the command given below and enter your login password to proceed.
sudo dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_i386.deb. Note that downloaded package must be in the specific directory where using Terminal.Enjoy surfing with Chrome.
Solution to Slow browsing on Firefox 4 in Ubuntu 11.04
Now what one Ubuntu Support forums says that Firefox 4 in Ubuntu 11.04 is slow mainly due to “IPv6 is enabled by default” in the latest version.To an extend this might be a reason in Slow browsing[.[Although bandwidth issue also matters]].When you type any URL in the Firefox browser on the Ubuntu Linux operating system, it takes few seconds for Firefox to resolve the DNS and then the actual website is loaded. This means that every time you try to access the site there is a brief delay.[ for eg: try below commands & notice the delay]
time dig ipv4.google.com A
time dig ipv6.google.com AAAA
The IPv6 protocol was designed to replace IPv4, however most ISP’s are still not using IPv6 protocol. The Firefox browser in Ubuntu will first try the IPv6 protocol and when it fails the IPv4 protocol is used, hence the delay and slow browsing experience.Even Firefox Mozilla Support demands this.To disable IPv6 specifically for Firefox, visit about:config[thpe in url bar ], filter on something like “dns” or “v6?, and change network.dns.disableIPv6 to “true” (right-click and pick “toggle”).
Now if this doesn’t solve the issue on slow speed ,the best option is to disable IPv6 in the Ubuntu System itself.The process is really simple. Load the terminal and copy and paste this line into the terminal.
gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/aliases
Then when you see the edit screen add the following at the end of the file. In case the file is empty no problem just add the lines.
alias net-pf-10 ipv6 off
alias net-pf-10 off
alias ipv6 off
Once done save the file and reboot the system.Note: Disabling the IPV6 must prevent you on visiting IPV6 enabled websites.
Alternative /easy way for disabling IPv6 in Ubuntu
Click on your network icon (ethernet double arrow or wifi fan) and pick “connection information”. If the active connections don’t say IPv6 ignored” click again, pick “edit connections …”, select the ethernet (“auto eth0?) or wifi (wlan0) connection you are using, and push the “edit” button. The rightmost tab will be IPv6, set the dropdown to “Ignore”.
