| | Internet Exchange Point - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | An Internet exchange point (IX or IXP) is a physical infrastructure that allows different Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to exchange Internet traffic between their networks (autonomous systems) by means of mutual peering agreements, which allow traffic to be exchanged without cost. |
 | | Traffic passing through an exchange is typically not billed by any party, whereas traffic to an ISP's upstream provider is. The direct interconnection, often in the same city as both networks are located, often avoids data having to travel to other cities (potentially other continents) to get from one network to another. |
 | | At the more expensive exchanges, participants pay a monthly fee, usually determined by the speed of the port or ports which they're using, or much less commonly by the volume of traffic which they're passing across the exchange, though that's unpopular because it provides a counterincentive to growth of the exchange. |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Internet_exchange_point (723 words) |