Why frames are slow
Why can frames be slow?
For every frameset, the browser has to request and download n+1 Web pages, where n is the number of frames in the frameset. The browser first requests the frameset page, which then tells it to load all the frames. These frames are requested from the Web server and delivered to the site.
Unfortunately, there is not a lot to be done about the inherent speed of frames. If you use a framed site, then make sure that each frame in the frameset is small and loads quickly. Keep the images small and use small amounts of text.