Site Load time faster without .htaccess

[eshopship.com]

Dears,

 

We have site eshopship(dot)com running on PS 1.6. Currently site load time is around 5-7 sec's, main page size is 900kb. But if we remove .htaccess-file site load time improved by 2, 3 secs and loads in 3, 4 secs. But since we are using friendly URL's, After moving .htaccess site through 404 error for category navigation and if clicking any product on home page.

 

Can anyone advise. how we can optimize .htaccess to achieve 2, 3 secs load time or if possible to remove .htaccess file and still use friendly URL's?

 

Appreciate your expert feedback since it might help other PS users to improve load time.

[NemoPS]

Friendly urls might be what slow the site down actually, as there will be some redirection when accessing the page (using the dispatcher class)

[eshopship.com]

Friendly urls might be what slow the site down actually, as there will be some redirection when accessing the page (using the dispatcher class)

Thanks for prompt reply.

 

Is there anyway to improve load time with friendly URL's? because 5-6 sec load time for online store is bit high.