diff --git a/consensus/clique/clique.go b/consensus/clique/clique.go
index 0a653c8531..ec7c5f4139 100644
--- a/consensus/clique/clique.go
+++ b/consensus/clique/clique.go
@@ -350,22 +350,6 @@ func (c *Clique) verifyCascadingFields(chain consensus.ChainReader, header *type
 	if parent.Time.Uint64()+c.config.Period > header.Time.Uint64() {
 		return ErrInvalidTimestamp
 	}
-	// Retrieve the snapshot needed to verify this header and cache it
-	snap, err := c.snapshot(chain, number-1, header.ParentHash, parents)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	// If the block is a checkpoint block, verify the signer list
-	if number%c.config.Epoch == 0 {
-		signers := make([]byte, len(snap.Signers)*common.AddressLength)
-		for i, signer := range snap.signers() {
-			copy(signers[i*common.AddressLength:], signer[:])
-		}
-		extraSuffix := len(header.Extra) - extraSeal
-		if !bytes.Equal(header.Extra[extraVanity:extraSuffix], signers) {
-			return errInvalidCheckpointSigners
-		}
-	}
 	// All basic checks passed, verify the seal and return
 	return c.verifySeal(chain, header, parents)
 }
diff --git a/eth/downloader/downloader.go b/eth/downloader/downloader.go
index 62842adbc6..90bbba65a5 100644
--- a/eth/downloader/downloader.go
+++ b/eth/downloader/downloader.go
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	MaxHashFetch    = 512 // Amount of hashes to be fetched per retrieval request
-	MaxBlockFetch   = 128 // Amount of blocks to be fetched per retrieval request
-	MaxHeaderFetch  = 192 // Amount of block headers to be fetched per retrieval request
+	MaxBlockFetch   = 900 // Amount of blocks to be fetched per retrieval request
+	MaxHeaderFetch  = 900 // Amount of block headers to be fetched per retrieval request
 	MaxSkeletonSize = 128 // Number of header fetches to need for a skeleton assembly
 	MaxBodyFetch    = 128 // Amount of block bodies to be fetched per retrieval request
 	MaxReceiptFetch = 256 // Amount of transaction receipts to allow fetching per request
@@ -56,9 +56,9 @@ var (
 	qosConfidenceCap = 10   // Number of peers above which not to modify RTT confidence
 	qosTuningImpact  = 0.25 // Impact that a new tuning target has on the previous value
 
-	maxQueuedHeaders  = 32 * 1024 // [eth/62] Maximum number of headers to queue for import (DOS protection)
-	maxHeadersProcess = 2048      // Number of header download results to import at once into the chain
-	maxResultsProcess = 2048      // Number of content download results to import at once into the chain
+	maxQueuedHeaders  = 900  // [eth/62] Maximum number of headers to queue for import (DOS protection)
+	maxHeadersProcess = 900  // Number of header download results to import at once into the chain
+	maxResultsProcess = 2048 // Number of content download results to import at once into the chain
 
 	fsHeaderCheckFrequency = 100             // Verification frequency of the downloaded headers during fast sync
 	fsHeaderSafetyNet      = 2048            // Number of headers to discard in case a chain violation is detected