Sorry if this has already been asked.
Who is responsible for fast pool switching? The proxy or the rig?
If I rent a rig running a custom cgminer/sgminer/bfgminer/whatever that has been configured/patched for - say - 30 seconds pool switch. Will this rig switch pools faster than a rig running standard cgminer 3.7.2 with 300 seconds pool switch?
Yes, it will be based on the settings in your miner. I use Kalroths cgminer v3.7.3 and i think he set the default there as check every 60 seconds, worked flawlessly this morning for my first customer.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but to my understanding the rig has a permanent stratum proxy connection and does not know where it's mining and when it's switching pool, so why should a custom cgminer switch faster than a stock one?
The way the stratum protocol is designed, the connection need to be cut on customer pool change. So here come in play your miner software switching time. And indeed, for a best customer experience, it's recommended to have a miner software with a 60s or less switch time, instead of the cgminer 5 minutes switch.