Key size of 1024 vs. 2048 bits should not account for 225 ms of latency. Here's the result of "openssl speed rsa" on a mid-grade desktop computer.

Key size of 1024 vs. 2048 bits should not account for 225 ms of latency. Here's the result of "openssl speed rsa" on a mid-grade desktop computer. sign verify sign/s verify/s rsa 512 bits 0.000217s 0.000014s 4608.1 72363.4 rsa 1024 bits 0.000711s 0.000032s 1406.0 30788.2 rsa 2048 bits 0.003630s 0.000092s 275.5 10825.0 rsa 4096 bits 0.021180s 0.000299s 47.2 3349.2 In other words, the difference between 1024 and 2048 bits for the server is 2.9 milliseconds, two orders of magnitude less than the latency the parent comment posted. Second, it has nothing to do with the "performance on your end" (the client). The client side of SSL is limited to public key operations only (cert verification, encrypted the pre-master secret). These are 40x faster than private key ops, key length being constant. You're talking a difference of 60 microseconds on the client.