@ zammyfighter
What you are unfamiliar with is how avast works, when browsing your browser requests are redirected through the Web Shield (avastSvc.exe) proxy so that the http traffic can be scanned.
The web shield doesn't initiate these connections, you do via your browser, that is why you see a much reduced browser connection activity.
Turn the web shield of, nothing gets redirected, nothing gets scanned and your browser traffic goes up. The web shield is by far and away the best shield that you have as it blocks malware getting on the system to start with.
This is the biggest misconception "If I ever google something and go on an unknown site, I'll turn it back on." It isn't only unknown sites that are a risk, virtually all sites can present a risk, as the most common cause of infection on the internet is from hacked sites, even known or supposed good sites get hacked.