An apparatus and method for transmitting electronic data between two networks communicating at different bit rates, where the bit rate of the faster network divided by the bit rate of the slower network is a non-integer. The two networks communicate with each other through a set of lanes each communicating at a bit rate that is a common denominator of the bit rates for the two networks. The lanes communicate with two sets of transceivers, one set of the transceivers communicates with the faster network at the faster bit rate and the other (larger) set of transceivers communicates with the slower network at the slower bit rate. Each transceiver is structured so that the total bit rate of the lanes communicating with that transceiver is equal to the bit rate of the network on which the transceiver operates.