Understanding and Enabling HTTP/2
HTTP/2 is the modern version of the HTTP protocol that significantly improves website loading speed. It introduces multiplexing, header compression, and server push, all of which reduce the time it takes for your pages to load.
Benefits of HTTP/2
- Multiplexing: Multiple requests and responses are sent simultaneously over a single connection, eliminating the head-of-line blocking issue in HTTP/1.1.
- Header compression: HTTP headers are compressed using the HPACK algorithm, reducing overhead on every request.
- Server push: The server can proactively send resources to the browser before they are explicitly requested, reducing round trips.
- Binary protocol: HTTP/2 uses a binary format instead of text, making it more efficient to parse and less error-prone.
HTTP/2 on SillyHost
Good news — HTTP/2 is enabled by default on all SillyHost hosting plans. Our servers run LiteSpeed Web Server, which has native HTTP/2 support. There is no configuration needed on your part.
Requirements for HTTP/2
For HTTP/2 to work, the following conditions must be met:
- SSL certificate: HTTP/2 requires HTTPS. All major browsers only support HTTP/2 over encrypted connections. Since SillyHost provides free AutoSSL, this requirement is automatically satisfied.
- Modern browser: All current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge support HTTP/2.
Verifying HTTP/2 Is Active
- Open your website in Google Chrome.
- Open Developer Tools (F12) and go to the Network tab.
- Right-click on the column headers and enable the Protocol column.
- Reload the page. You should see
h2in the Protocol column for resources served from your domain.
You can also use online tools like HTTP/2 Test by KeyCDN to check if your site supports HTTP/2.
HTTP/2 with Cloudflare
If you use Cloudflare, HTTP/2 is also enabled by default on their network. Cloudflare even supports HTTP/3 (QUIC), which provides further performance improvements. You can enable HTTP/3 in your Cloudflare dashboard under Speed > Optimization.