diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 86452b4c..57a4eec2 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ PUID=1000
 PGID=1000
 TZ=America/Vancouver
 WHISPER_PORT=10300
-WHISPER_MODEL=tiny-int8
+WHISPER_MODEL=auto
 WHISPER_LANG=auto
-WHISPER_BEAM=1
+WHISPER_BEAM=0
 
 HARNESS_AGENT_HARNESS=codex
 HARNESS_AGENT_COMMAND=
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index b81dbad6..b39c08b7 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ services:
       MOLTEN_HUB_DEFAULT_REPOSITORY: ${MOLTEN_HUB_DEFAULT_REPOSITORY:-}
       MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_HOST: faster-whisper
       MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_PORT: "10300"
-      MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_LANGUAGE: "${MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_LANGUAGE:-${WHISPER_LANG:-en}}"
+      MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_LANGUAGE: "${MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_LANGUAGE:-${WHISPER_LANG:-auto}}"
     volumes:
       - ./.moltenhub:/workspace/config
     depends_on:
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ services:
       PUID: "${PUID:-1000}"
       PGID: "${PGID:-1000}"
       TZ: "${TZ:-America/Vancouver}"
-      WHISPER_MODEL: "${WHISPER_MODEL:-tiny-int8}"
-      WHISPER_LANG: "${WHISPER_LANG:-${MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_LANGUAGE:-en}}"
-      WHISPER_BEAM: "${WHISPER_BEAM:-1}"
+      WHISPER_MODEL: "${WHISPER_MODEL:-auto}"
+      WHISPER_LANG: "${WHISPER_LANG:-${MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_LANGUAGE:-auto}}"
+      WHISPER_BEAM: "${WHISPER_BEAM:-0}"
     volumes:
       - ./.faster-whisper:/config
     ports:
diff --git a/docker/config/README.md b/docker/config/README.md
index c0101b34..e18780f2 100644
--- a/docker/config/README.md
+++ b/docker/config/README.md
@@ -72,15 +72,16 @@ services:
       HARNESS_AGENT_HARNESS: codex
       MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_HOST: faster-whisper
       MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_PORT: "10300"
-      MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_LANGUAGE: en
+      MOLTEN_HUB_SPEECH_LANGUAGE: auto
       # Optional for Codex agent auth bootstrap:
       OPENAI_API_KEY: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}
 
   faster-whisper:
     image: lscr.io/linuxserver/faster-whisper:latest
     environment:
-      WHISPER_MODEL: tiny-int8
-      WHISPER_LANG: en
+      WHISPER_MODEL: auto
+      WHISPER_LANG: auto
+      WHISPER_BEAM: "0"
     ports:
       - "10300:10300"
 ```
diff --git a/internal/web/server_test.go b/internal/web/server_test.go
index f76c2a4c..1949a541 100644
--- a/internal/web/server_test.go
+++ b/internal/web/server_test.go
@@ -1459,6 +1459,11 @@ func TestHandlerIndexServesHTML(t *testing.T) {
 	if !strings.Contains(markup, `state.speech.enabled && state.speech.reachable`) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected index html to show whisper connection only when speech sidecar is reachable")
 	}
+	if !strings.Contains(markup, `function speechTranscriptionLanguage()`) ||
+		!strings.Contains(markup, `const language = speechTranscriptionLanguage();`) ||
+		!strings.Contains(markup, `/api/speech/transcribe?language=${encodeURIComponent(language)}`) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected index html to send browser language hints to whisper")
+	}
 	if !strings.Contains(markup, `setIndicator(hubConnItem, hubConnDot, hubConnText, "Molten Hub", online, text);`) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected index html to update hub indicator tooltip copy")
 	}
diff --git a/internal/web/static/index.html b/internal/web/static/index.html
index b0701692..3c6f496e 100644
--- a/internal/web/static/index.html
+++ b/internal/web/static/index.html
@@ -5256,7 +5256,8 @@ <h2 id="hub-setup-title">Connect to Hub</h2>
       syncPromptSpeechButton();
       setLocalPromptStatus("warn", "Transcribing...");
       try {
-        const response = await fetch("/api/speech/transcribe?language=auto", {
+        const language = speechTranscriptionLanguage();
+        const response = await fetch(`/api/speech/transcribe?language=${encodeURIComponent(language)}`, {
           method: "POST",
           headers: { "Content-Type": "application/octet-stream" },
           body: concatSpeechBuffers(chunks),
@@ -5343,6 +5344,13 @@ <h2 id="hub-setup-title">Connect to Hub</h2>
       return output;
     }
 
+    function speechTranscriptionLanguage() {
+      const locales = Array.isArray(navigator.languages) ? navigator.languages : [];
+      const locale = String(locales[0] || navigator.language || "").toLowerCase();
+      const language = locale.split(/[-_]/)[0];
+      return /^[a-z]{2,3}$/.test(language) ? language : "auto";
+    }
+
     function floatToSpeechPCM(input) {
       const buffer = new ArrayBuffer(input.length * 2);
       const view = new DataView(buffer);