I think the settings in the options file have a lot to do with the speed of netsurf.
I've made some test and played with the max fetchers settings, and again netseurf was a little faster.
Right now under winuae with a 1680x1050 32-bit wb screen and a 1024x768 netsurf window I use the following settings:
min_reflow_period:800
max_fetchers:12
max_fetchers_per_host:12
max_cached_fetch_handles:24
With the old settings, amiga.org used to load in 10 seconds. Now it loads in 6 seconds. Amigaworld.net loads in 3.4 seconds. Scrolling amigaworld.net takes 2 seconds.
On my classic, I have to use a really high setting of min reflow period.
Right now on my classic with a 1024x768 16-bit wb screen and a fullscreen netsurf I use the following settings:
min_reflow_period:1700
max_fetchers:12
max_fetchers_per_host:12
max_cached_fetch_handles:24
With the old settings, amiga.org used to load in 39 seconds. Now it loads in 32 seconds. Amigaworld.net loads in 17.4 seconds. Scrolling amigaworld.net takes 7 seconds.
If I use winuae without JIT and use the min_reflow period setting of my classic (1700), I get about the same loading times as on my classic.
I really think these settings depend on the speed of the system being used, so it may be worth it to try some other settings on your system, and see if it speeds up netsurf.