diff --git a/web_interface/app.py b/web_interface/app.py
index e61c5cec..e40fac9a 100644
--- a/web_interface/app.py
+++ b/web_interface/app.py
@@ -59,6 +59,16 @@ except ImportError:
     # flask-limiter not installed, rate limiting disabled
     limiter = None
 
+# Enable gzip/brotli response compression (Flask-Compress skips streaming
+# responses, so the SSE endpoints are unaffected). Optional, like limiter:
+# missing package just means uncompressed responses.
+try:
+    from flask_compress import Compress
+
+    Compress(app)
+except ImportError:
+    pass
+
 # Import cache functions from separate module to avoid circular imports
 
 # Initialize plugin managers - read plugins directory from config
diff --git a/web_interface/requirements.txt b/web_interface/requirements.txt
index dd4a4548..6b1a98e0 100644
--- a/web_interface/requirements.txt
+++ b/web_interface/requirements.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ flask>=3.1.3,<4.0.0
 werkzeug>=3.1.6,<4.0.0
 flask-wtf>=1.2.0  # CSRF protection (optional for local-only, but recommended)
 flask-limiter>=3.5.0  # Rate limiting (prevent accidental abuse)
+flask-compress>=1.14  # gzip/brotli response compression (big win for the large JS/HTML over WiFi)
 
 # WebSocket support for plugins
 # Note: Web interface uses Server-Sent Events (SSE) for real-time updates, not WebSockets