diff --git a/src/lavinmq/bool_channel.cr b/src/lavinmq/bool_channel.cr
index 7796a48fe8..dda203f698 100644
--- a/src/lavinmq/bool_channel.cr
+++ b/src/lavinmq/bool_channel.cr
@@ -1,46 +1,69 @@
 # A class which has two channels, one for which a state is true
 # and the other for when the state if false
 class BoolChannel
-  getter when_true = Channel(Nil).new
-  getter when_false = Channel(Nil).new
-  @value = Channel(Bool).new
+  class StateChannel < Channel(Nil)
+    class EndlessQueue < Deque(Nil)
+      property? empty : Bool = true
+
+      def shift(&)
+        yield if empty?
+      end
+
+      def push(value : T)
+        raise "Can't push to an EndlessQueue"
+      end
+    end
+
+    @queue = EndlessQueue.new
+
+    def activate
+      @lock.sync do
+        @queue.as(EndlessQueue).empty = false
+        while receiver_ptr = dequeue_receiver
+          receiver_ptr.value.data = nil
+          receiver_ptr.value.state = DeliveryState::Delivered
+          receiver_ptr.value.fiber.enqueue
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    def deactivate
+      @lock.sync do
+        @queue.as(EndlessQueue).empty = true
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  getter when_true = StateChannel.new
+  getter when_false = StateChannel.new
+  @value : Atomic(Bool)
 
   def initialize(value : Bool)
-    spawn(name: "BoolChannel#send_loop") do
-      send_loop(value)
+    @value = Atomic.new(value)
+    if value
+      @when_true.activate
+    else
+      @when_false.activate
     end
   end
 
-  def set(value : Bool)
-    @value.send value
-  rescue ::Channel::ClosedError
-    Log.debug { "BoolChannel closed, could not set value" }
+  def value
+    @value.get
   end
 
-  def value : Bool
-    select
-    when when_true.receive
-      true
-    when when_false.receive
-      false
+  def set(value : Bool)
+    return if @value.swap(value) == value
+    if value
+      @when_false.deactivate
+      @when_true.activate
+    else
+      @when_true.deactivate
+      @when_false.activate
     end
   end
 
   def close
     @when_true.close
     @when_false.close
-    @value.close
-  end
-
-  private def send_loop(value)
-    loop do
-      channel = value ? @when_true : @when_false
-      select
-      when value = @value.receive
-      when channel.send nil
-        Fiber.yield # Improves fairness by allowing the receiving fiber to run instead of notifying all waiting fibers
-      end
-    end
-  rescue ::Channel::ClosedError
   end
 end
diff --git a/src/lavinmq/launcher.cr b/src/lavinmq/launcher.cr
index 48e9eaeaf2..f8ffdfacbf 100644
--- a/src/lavinmq/launcher.cr
+++ b/src/lavinmq/launcher.cr
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ require "./data_dir_lock"
 require "./etcd"
 require "./clustering/controller"
 require "../stdlib/openssl_sni"
+require "../stdlib/fiber_stats"
 
 module LavinMQ
   struct StandaloneRunner
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ module LavinMQ
         Log.warn { "The file descriptor limit is very low, consider raising it." }
         Log.warn { "You need one for each connection and two for each durable queue, and some more." }
       end
+      setup_buffer_pools
       Dir.mkdir_p @config.data_dir
       if @config.data_dir_lock?
         @data_dir_lock = DataDirLock.new(@config.data_dir)
@@ -103,6 +105,14 @@ module LavinMQ
       @runner.stop
     end
 
+    private def setup_buffer_pools
+      buffer_size = @config.socket_buffer_size
+      if buffer_size.positive?
+        IO::BufferPool.setup(buffer_size)
+        Log.info { "Socket buffer pool enabled, buffer size: #{buffer_size}" }
+      end
+    end
+
     private def print_ascii_logo
       logo = <<-LOGO
 
@@ -242,7 +252,40 @@ module LavinMQ
       puts "  reclaimed bytes during last GC: #{ps.bytes_reclaimed_since_gc.humanize_bytes}"
       puts "  reclaimed bytes before last GC: #{ps.reclaimed_bytes_before_gc.humanize_bytes}"
       puts "Fibers:"
-      Fiber.list { |f| puts f.inspect }
+      total_stack = 0_u64
+      read_loop_count = 0
+      read_loop_stack_total = 0_u64
+      read_loop_stack_min = UInt64::MAX
+      read_loop_stack_max = 0_u64
+      Fiber.list do |f|
+        stack = f.stack_used
+        total_stack += stack
+        if f.name.try(&.starts_with?("Client#read_loop"))
+          read_loop_count += 1
+          read_loop_stack_total += stack
+          read_loop_stack_min = stack if stack < read_loop_stack_min
+          read_loop_stack_max = stack if stack > read_loop_stack_max
+        end
+        puts "  #{f.name}: #{stack.humanize_bytes}"
+      end
+      puts "Fiber stack summary:"
+      puts "  total stack used: #{total_stack.humanize_bytes}"
+      if read_loop_count > 0
+        avg = read_loop_stack_total // read_loop_count
+        puts "  read_loop fibers: #{read_loop_count}"
+        puts "  read_loop stack min: #{read_loop_stack_min.humanize_bytes}"
+        puts "  read_loop stack max: #{read_loop_stack_max.humanize_bytes}"
+        puts "  read_loop stack avg: #{avg.humanize_bytes}"
+        puts "  read_loop stack total: #{read_loop_stack_total.humanize_bytes}"
+      end
+      if stats = IO::BufferPool.pool.try(&.stats)
+        puts "Buffer pool"
+        puts "  buffer size: #{stats[:buffer_size].humanize_bytes}"
+        puts "  available: #{stats[:available]}"
+        puts "  allocated: #{stats[:allocated]}"
+        puts "  reused: #{stats[:reused]}"
+        puts "  released: #{stats[:released]}"
+      end
       STDOUT.flush
     end
 
diff --git a/src/stdlib/fiber_stats.cr b/src/stdlib/fiber_stats.cr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..eb8a59a088
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/stdlib/fiber_stats.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+class Fiber
+  # Expose stack usage for debugging
+  # Stack grows downward: bottom is highest address, top is current position
+  def stack_used : UInt64
+    # When fiber is suspended, context.stack_top has the saved stack pointer
+    # bottom - top = bytes used
+    @stack.bottom.address - @context.stack_top.address
+  end
+end
diff --git a/src/stdlib/io_buffered.cr b/src/stdlib/io_buffered.cr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ce905ff90a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/stdlib/io_buffered.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,194 @@
+require "socket"
+
+# A thread-safe pool of reusable byte buffers for IO operations.
+# This reduces memory usage for connections with many idle sockets by
+# releasing buffers back to the pool when not actively in use.
+class IO::BufferPool
+  @buffers = Deque(Pointer(UInt8)).new
+  @mutex = Mutex.new
+  @buffer_size : Int32
+  @max_pool_size : Int32
+  @stats_allocated = Atomic(Int64).new(0)
+  @stats_reused = Atomic(Int64).new(0)
+  @stats_released = Atomic(Int64).new(0)
+
+  getter buffer_size
+
+  def initialize(@buffer_size : Int32, @max_pool_size : Int32 = 100_000)
+  end
+
+  # Acquire a buffer from the pool, or allocate a new one if the pool is empty
+  def acquire : Pointer(UInt8)
+    buffer = @mutex.synchronize { @buffers.shift? }
+    if buffer
+      @stats_reused.add(1)
+      buffer
+    else
+      @stats_allocated.add(1)
+      GC.malloc_atomic(@buffer_size.to_u32).as(UInt8*)
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Release a buffer back to the pool for reuse
+  # If the pool is at capacity, the buffer is discarded (GC will collect it)
+  def release(buffer : Pointer(UInt8)) : Nil
+    return if buffer.null?
+    @stats_released.add(1)
+    @mutex.synchronize do
+      if @buffers.size < @max_pool_size
+        @buffers.push(buffer)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  # Number of buffers currently available in the pool
+  def available : Int32
+    @mutex.synchronize { @buffers.size }
+  end
+
+  # Statistics about buffer usage
+  def stats
+    {
+      available:   available,
+      allocated:   @stats_allocated.get,
+      reused:      @stats_reused.get,
+      released:    @stats_released.get,
+      buffer_size: @buffer_size,
+    }
+  end
+
+  # Singleton pool instance
+  class_property pool : IO::BufferPool?
+
+  def self.setup(buffer_size : Int32, max_pool_size : Int32 = 100_000) : Nil
+    @@pool = IO::BufferPool.new(buffer_size, max_pool_size)
+  end
+end
+
+# Override IO::Buffered to support buffer pooling for socket connections.
+# This saves memory for idle connections by releasing buffers back to a pool
+# when operations complete, allowing them to be reused by active connections.
+#
+# The key insight is that most connections are idle most of the time, waiting
+# for data. By releasing buffers when:
+# - Read buffer: all buffered data has been consumed
+# - Write buffer: data has been flushed
+#
+# We can dramatically reduce memory usage for scenarios with many connections.
+module IO::Buffered
+  def self.buffer_pool_stats
+    IO::BufferPool.pool.try &.stats
+  end
+
+  # Override fill_buffer to only acquire buffer after data is available.
+  # For sockets, we release any existing buffer and wait for readability first,
+  # then acquire the buffer and perform the actual read.
+  # This ensures idle connections don't hold read buffers.
+  private def fill_buffer
+    pool = IO::BufferPool.pool
+    use_pool = pool && @buffer_size == pool.buffer_size
+
+    # For sockets: release buffer and wait for data before acquiring
+    # This keeps idle connections from holding buffers
+    if use_pool && self.is_a?(Socket)
+      # Release existing buffer before waiting
+      if (p = pool) && (in_buf = @in_buffer) && !in_buf.null?
+        p.release(in_buf)
+        @in_buffer = Pointer(UInt8).null
+      end
+      Crystal::EventLoop.current.wait_readable(self)
+    end
+
+    in_buf = if use_pool && (p = pool)
+               @in_buffer ||= p.acquire
+             else
+               @in_buffer ||= GC.malloc_atomic(@buffer_size.to_u32).as(UInt8*)
+             end
+    size = unbuffered_read(Slice.new(in_buf, @buffer_size)).to_i
+    @in_buffer_rem = Slice.new(in_buf, size)
+  end
+
+  # Override read to release buffer back to pool when all data consumed
+  def read(slice : Bytes) : Int32
+    check_open
+
+    count = slice.size
+    return 0 if count == 0
+
+    if @in_buffer_rem.empty?
+      # If we are asked to read more than half the buffer's size,
+      # read directly into the slice, as it's not worth the extra
+      # memory copy.
+      if !read_buffering? || count >= @buffer_size // 2
+        return unbuffered_read(slice[0, count]).to_i
+      else
+        fill_buffer
+        return 0 if @in_buffer_rem.empty?
+      end
+    end
+
+    to_read = Math.min(count, @in_buffer_rem.size)
+    slice.copy_from(@in_buffer_rem.to_unsafe, to_read)
+    @in_buffer_rem += to_read
+
+    # Release buffer back to pool when all data consumed
+    if @in_buffer_rem.empty?
+      pool = IO::BufferPool.pool
+      if pool && @buffer_size == pool.buffer_size
+        if in_buf = @in_buffer
+          pool.release(in_buf)
+          @in_buffer = Pointer(UInt8).null
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    to_read
+  end
+
+  # Override flush to release write buffer after flushing
+  def flush : self
+    if @out_count > 0
+      unbuffered_write(Slice.new(out_buffer, @out_count))
+    end
+    unbuffered_flush
+    @out_count = 0
+
+    # Release write buffer back to pool after flush
+    pool = IO::BufferPool.pool
+    if pool && @buffer_size == pool.buffer_size
+      if out_buf = @out_buffer
+        pool.release(out_buf)
+        @out_buffer = Pointer(UInt8).null
+      end
+    end
+
+    self
+  end
+
+  # Override out_buffer to acquire from pool
+  private def out_buffer
+    pool = IO::BufferPool.pool
+    @out_buffer ||= if pool && @buffer_size == pool.buffer_size
+                      pool.acquire
+                    else
+                      GC.malloc_atomic(@buffer_size.to_u32).as(UInt8*)
+                    end
+  end
+
+  # Override close to release buffers back to pool
+  def close : Nil
+    # Release read buffer before close (write buffer released via flush)
+    pool = IO::BufferPool.pool
+    if pool && @buffer_size == pool.buffer_size
+      if in_buf = @in_buffer
+        pool.release(in_buf)
+        @in_buffer = Pointer(UInt8).null
+        @in_buffer_rem = Bytes.empty
+      end
+    end
+
+    flush if @out_count > 0
+  ensure
+    unbuffered_close
+  end
+end