The Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid with Your Helium Hotspot
So you just found out about Helium and want to crush it with your hotspot deployment? First, remember WUPU. That stands for Wide-Unique-Proveable-Useful coverage. WUPU is what makes for a reliably high earning hotspot. Here are the top 5 things that go against WUPU. Let's start with the worst thing:
1 - Overcrowding
Putting your hotspot in the same res 8 hex as another hotspot WITHOUT providing significantly better coverage is a recipe for low earnings and wasted effort. I've gone into this in depth over in the Rough Guide.
I'm seeing a lot of folks who are just putting it in their house because they don't have any other place to put it, even if someone else is already in the same res 8 hex! This goes against the first U in WUPU, which is Unique. That is...non-optimal if you want higher rewards. If you want to crush it with your deployment, focus 95% of your efforts on the placement aspect.
2 - Focusing on the Antenna
Most new hotspot owners go through some variation of "What's the best antenna, money is no object?" Please read the post on antennas to learn why that's not a high-earning question. You might think you're going for the W in WUPU, which is Wide, but many times you'll overbuy an antenna, getting a compressed signal that triggers anti-gaming witness invalidation measures OR goes far beyond the local hotspots you should be targeting.
3 - Not doing your research
You end up wasting a ton of your own time and that of others by asking a question in the forums that you could have answered far more thoroughly and profitably had you used a Search function. Trust me, you are not the first person with your question. Type it into Google exactly as you'd ask an expert and add "Helium Hotspot" at the end, or type the key words into the Helium Discord channel and scroll through the results.
4 - Not getting your antenna outside and up at elevation
This is a classic mistake. Look, Helium is a HUGE opportunity, but that opportunity will only exist as a tremendous one for hotspot owners who provide WUPU. If you put your antenna in a window down low, you are providing a very small area of useful coverage, it will be more difficult to verify it because your signal will be weak, and if there are any other hotspots around you you'll probably be duplicating their efforts.
Related but usually not common with people who want to crush is the lone wolf deployment, where someone puts in a hotspot that through topography or distance can't connect with any other hotspot. Even if they're providing Wide, Unique, and Useful coverage, it's not Proveable, so it doesn't really count. Hey, I don't make the rules (even though I think the Proveable rule is an excellent one.)
5 - Not connecting via a solid (usually ethernet cable) connection.
This is a smaller mistake but a source of frustration. The hotspots so far released don't have super strong WiFi reception, so they end up going offline, or missing a signal, or just disconnecting. Save yourself a TON of trouble and just hardline the thing in. If your connection is unreliable, you're not really providing Useful coverage.
All of these mistakes are as common as they are avoidable. If you just remember WUPU and apply it to every step of your deployment you can avoid them.
With about 10 hours of serious reading or study you'll be in the top 1% of knowledgeable hotspot owners in the entire ecosystem, and you won't make these. With that much study, not only can you avoid those mistakes, you'll easily sidestep all the other low-earning pitfalls that many hotspot owners stumble into.
Have a look through this blog, reading it will be a useful addition to your 10 hours. I've written about how to optimize your hotspot placement, which antenna is best, how much you can expect to earn, and more.
Archived Comments
Clove - 4/22/2021
Hi Nick - great articles, so helpful, have poured through every one of your Helium related post at least once :) Like most I have hotspots on the way, the first bunch arriving in June. I currently live overseas in Auckland, New Zealand where there is nothing (yet), but I know that will change in coming months. One thing is bugging me, regarding the density and the 300m zoning issue, I would think this could lead (and probably is/has) to some major conflict. I know if I was earning 100's of HNT a month and some cowboy put one 250m from a high earning rig and greatly reduced it's potential, I'd be fuming. This must be happening all over the world in super dense enclaves (as illustrated on Explorer in cities like LA, San Fran, London, Berlin etc). Why doesn't Helium step in and have a clear cut 'First Come First Serve' policy and nip this in the bud? I would think a clear, black and white policy here would alleviate so much stress and anxiety. I mean there are a lot of trolls out there, purely out of jealousy someone could greatly diminish your earning power. I know it would be illogical and counter intuitive, but so is being anti-vaccine and look how many of them there are. Anyway, haven't seen it really addressed anywhere and like to get your thoughts on it. Are people lobbying Helium to address this big issue? Thanks in advance. C
Nik - 4/22/2021
They may be lobbying Helium, but if you think of it from a network perspective there's not a huge downside to people providing additional coverage. What IS likely is that the rewards system will be adjusted through chain vars to significantly discourage overcrowding while simultaneously rewarding WUPU coverage. (Wide, Useable, Proveable, and Unique.)
Leonardo - 5/3/2021
Hello Nick, I wanted to know an efficient way to set up an indoor miner and have the antenna be outside in a high elevation. Any tips?
Nik - 5/3/2021
You can use a length of LMR400, depending on your antenna up to 60'. Just make sure you get the right connectors. :)
Bill - 5/8/2021
Nik, I’m about 150 feet up in a high rise and won’t be able to get on the roof. Balcony faces a dense population and I would get about a 180 degree “view” (facing north, 10 miles of east and infinite west).which is fine provided there are enough others to create the desired network. Any criticism of me accepting the limitation of non-360 degrees?
Nik - 5/8/2021
Hi Bill, use what you have, sounds like a great start!
Aldwin De Torres - 5/9/2021
Hi Nik, I live in an area that receives thunder and lightning storms. I’m somewhat ambitious and thought about placing HS on top of buildings on a pole. However, I am very worried that’ll just attract lightning and destroy the HS. Any thoughts on placing the HS high and outdoors, but not run that lightning strike risk?
Nik - 5/9/2021
Hi Aldwin, use a lightning arrestor and ground the antenna properly and you'll be as protected as you can be.
John - 5/10/2021
Hey Nick, Awesome cannel!! In an suburban setting, with mostly flat topography, 100 units within a 5 mile radius would a stock 3dbi antenna seem sufficient?
Nik - 5/10/2021
Yep, just get it as high as you can and outside. 5' above the roofline and you should do well.
Vincenzo - 5/14/2021
Hi Nick I am from Naples Italy and with my hotspot I cannot correct the "relayed" signal, even though I have activated port forwarding in the router. I contacted my telephone operator who replies that they cannot help me. What do you advise me to do? Thank you
Nik - 5/14/2021
Hi Vincenzo, take a look at this link.
Chris Tucker - 5/19/2021
Hi Nik, So glad i found your info as I try to decide if this is feasible for me. My house has just one hot spot inside of 300 meters from it. says it is earning .83 - - - does this mean i should NOT put a hotspot at my house and seek another location?
Nik - 5/19/2021
You'll def want to be more than 300 meters away from that other one. Sounds like it's a lone wolf, so adding in a hotspot (far enough away) could be a great idea!
Martin - 5/20/2021
good day, i have a specific question with hotspot placment. In HIP 17 it says for res8: Number of siblings: 2, density_tgt: 1, density_max: 4 . So if i get it right i should place 1 hotspot in 3 hexagons next to each other to get 100% earnings. My question now: Am i allowed now to place 4 hotspots in these 3 hexagons(so 12 hotspots alltogether) or is it like one hexagone can be filled with 4 and the neighbours have to stick with one hotspot than? Thanks greetz Martin
Nik - 5/20/2021
You could place 4 hs each in those 3 hexes without getting transit reward scaled, but a lot of them wouldn't witness each other because they'd be too close.
Martin - 5/20/2021
Tank you so much for sharing how it works! I will ofc take care that no one will be in the Red zone.
Dave - 6/9/2021
I am surprised that Coax cable is not on this list. From what I have read, the quality and length of your cable can dramatically impact your dbi. For those who want to place an antenna on their roof but don't want to put their HS in an outdoor enclosure, what is the longest length of a name brand (USACoax or Times Microwave) LMR400 cable you would recommend running?
Dave - 6/9/2021
Hi Nik, You recommended not going over 60' depending on antenna, can you provide more information on that? If I am running the ANT-NH900-OUT 3dbi antenna you recommend, what is the maximum cable length I can run of LMR 400?
Nik - 6/9/2021
Hi Dave, Depends on antenna gain. Check the bottom of the hotspot reference page for lengths to run.
Nik - 6/9/2021
It really depends on antenna gain, and there's not a hard and fast answer (even though it seems like there should be). Basically, the shorter the better. Out to 75' has been used on an 8 dBi antenna successfully. You can go further, it's just that the antenna won't perform as optimally.
Andre - 7/11/2021
Nik, crazy useful website, I’ve been learning a lot. Based on your advice I am going to approach a local brewery In an old industrial building with a 100 foot tall water tower. They have already run power up it for a big neon sign. The surrounding area is mostly three to five story buildings with clear views to two nearby downtown metros. I am already somewhat friendly with the brewery owner. If I get the greenlight, do you recommend I run ethernet/POE all the way up there? Or treat it like an off grid set up and put it on data? Also, the cage ladder runs all the way up to the pinnacle of the water towers roof, so I can get to the highest point easily. (Well, easily might not be the word normal folks would use, but you know.) Given the height advantage I will already have, is there any point to using a pole to go even higher, or can I just clamp the antenna onto the ladder cage at the top and call it good?
Nik - 7/11/2021
Right on Andre. Maximum effort = maximum results, so I'd run PoE (under 300') and be aiming at that pole. :)
Andre - 7/11/2021
Beautiful, thanks Nik. Hope the brewery owner okays it, otherwise on to the next tower!
Brad - 7/23/2021
I am having the mistake of not finding info on the basic understanding of the concept. It sounds bad, but that is where I am at. I am trying to see if I have this massive antenna, how is it that all of these little "toasters" and iot devices are able to talk back to me? It seems to me there has to be some limit of the range that they can throw? I have tried to connect to wifi hotspots from say a main house to a guest house and can't get that working because on of the antennas can get to one router, but the other cannot get back on the back-leg of the communication. So, it seems to me that there would be a limit on how far away you can talk to an iot device, regardless of anything else. I feel like I missed the remedial basics of the whole process!
Nik - 7/23/2021
No worries Brad, you've hit on an often overlooked aspect of this. Helium *Hotspots* can talk to each other over a 100 miles away with clear line of sight because they both have plenty of power and larger, more sensitive antennas than sensors. The sensors (and sensor nodes they're attached to) usually have a much lower range, say 1-5 km. LoRa can punch through a couple of walls, it's not like WiFi (different frequency and amount of information carried), so those aren't really comparable.
Brad - 7/23/2021
Thanks Nik, so just so I am making sure I am understanding this correctly: Any antenna, no matter how badass, that reaches over 5km is not going to be effective past the 5km distance (approximately). If I am talking to hotspots 30km away, I am wasting signal from 5-30km. The first 5km is making me money, the rest is just getting witnesses that don't really matter. So I want to have a really broad footprint the goes from my antenna to say (under 10km) out to be "optimized", is that in essence the gist? Thanks, I appreciate you ;)
Nik - 7/23/2021
Well, depends on what you want it to be effective *for*. For earning from other hotspots you've got a potential effective range of 100+ miles. For receiving data from sensors, it's a lot shorter. They're two different things. Earnings come mostly from interacting with other hotspots for right now, so the 5km - 30+ km zone isn't wasted, it's just not what the network will eventually use.
Deena - 7/27/2021
Hi... So we received an extended Verizon FiOS 2.0 router back on July 8th. Oh boy, who knew this would mess things up. My rewards etc. were great prior to this. Anyway, I was relayed after the upgrade, opened up port 44185, and connected via ethernet, however, it just isn't working up to par. Rewards have been far and few in between and no witnesses, as opposed to having a nice handful of witnesses prior to July 8th. We have wireless 5G. I took out the ethernet cable and tried just going back to my wifi and now there have been zero rewards for almost 24 hours. Do I just suffer from patience issues or am I doing something wrong? Thanks in advance for helping me troubleshoot. DM
Deena - 7/27/2021
In addition to the previous comment... P.S. Forgot to mention, we got a new router, an upgrade basically, and I opted for the extended router to make sure my wifi was strong on the second floor of my home. Turns out it is strong... The router and antenna have always been inside my home, 2nd floor, by a window with no screen. DM
Nik - 7/27/2021
Hi Deena, rewards have dropped significantly in the last month. As long as you're not relayed and synced up, it's probably best to just wait it out. I'd stick with ethernet cable vs wifi. The witness list routinely resets, so it'll build back up.
Deena - 7/27/2021
Thanks dear. Appreciate your time and advice!!! DM
Deena - 7/27/2021
Should I just plug it back into my router and miner (meaning ethernet) or do I have to shut the whole wifi down etc. Still a major rookie here.
Nik - 7/27/2021
Hmm, I'd expect if you just connect your ethernet cable that should do it. I'd probably unplug the hotspot, connect the ethernet cable, then power the hotspot back on. Then go do something else for 2 days. :)
Deena - 7/27/2021
@NIK... Appreciated! Great site btw. Good luck with it! Deena <3
Deena - 7/27/2021
@NIK... THX! Deena <3
Mario - 7/28/2021
Hi Nik, Is there any advantage to using a higher quality ethernet cable to connect your hotspot and router? I need to run about 50 feet of ethernet cable to get to my hotspot and I'm not sure if investing in some CAT8 could make any difference from using some old CAT6. Best, Mario
Nik - 7/29/2021
Doesn't appear to make a difference. Cat 5e works as well. ;)
Paul Greenhalgh - 7/30/2021
So it needs to be outdoor, high, not too close to any other miners but not too isolated AND it needs to be hard wired to a network. In practicality this is surely almost impossible.
Nik - 7/30/2021
Hi Paul, tell that to Trendy Ginger Starling, Shiny Shangria Mammoth, Flaky Coconut Marmot, Lone Daffodil Blackbird, and Rough Chili Bird. It ain't impossible, it's just unusual, and usually requires more work.
Brad - 7/31/2021
Hey Nik, I was looking at those beasts and I am curious what the key to the equation is there, they have minimal witnesses. I have 81, they have 13-15 and their reach is not that great, but they seem to be just killing it. They are obviously not posting the real setup as it show 1.2dbi and 0'. Do you speculate that they just have insane height and covering everyone close by, but then why would there not be more witnesses. Am I hung up on witnesses and should not be?
Nik - 7/31/2021
Hi Brad, Yes, you're hung up on witnesses. More is not better, as you can see from the top earners. Have a careful read through HIP 15. From a big picture perspective, this line from the Github sums it up: "...each hotspot is motivated to provide as much coverage as possible WITHOUT [emphasis mine] over-rewarding redundant coverage." It can get complex quickly, but the big picture looks like this: A top earning provides maximum proveable reliable coverage of other hotspots providing non-redundant coverage. It's not easy to get that top spot. You've got to get your location, elevation, lines of sight, and placement in relation to surrounding hotspots right. Oh, and I guess your antenna. People love antennas. :) One quick edit: I didn't check 'em at first, but a few of those in the top 10 hit some of the last CG, artificially inflating earnings. Still, the fundamentals remain the same.
Kevin H - 8/2/2021
Heya NIK, two part question for ya... 1.) I've been told I live in "dream zone." Close to Downtown with some elevation help living on a small mountain. Also a dozen or so high earners around me (611-1011 distance from my place.) and about 60 green dots in a 2-3 mile radius around me. Just found out I have a 5 ft pole sticking out of the roof (ive never been up there before.) I was thinking of running a POE to minimize the mess (cables) but the roof pole is about 200 ft from my Modem. Does length of POE cable(s) matter when using this setup? Other than the max POE length rule of 300 ft or less? My antenna's coax is only going to be 12 inches long or so (LMR400.) Overall thoughts on my setup ideas? Oh and would try a 5.0dBi Fiberglass Ant (via a pole mount; tapping onto the current pole up there now.) 2.) I live in the hot desert and it rains maybe 4-5 days a year where I'm at. Is there a certain malleable material you can think of that won't affect, conflict, or distort my outbound radio signal? So I can conjure up a homemade 'umbrella' of sorts? Or some type of cheap canopy/shield to keep my unit dry if needed? As it is designed for "indoor use only" for the time being... Thanks a lot for all that you're doing for us home-gamers! Cheers!
Nik - 8/3/2021
Hi Kevin, length of ethernet cable shouldn't matter at all, just stay within that 300' limit. For your outdoor question, I'd just use a vented enclosure to house your indoor unit.
Kam - 8/8/2021
Hey Nik, after doing tons of research, i'm getting stuck on decissions about the right antennas for my specific scenario. I have oportunity to put my HS (6 in total) on a 12th floor buldings (rooftop), 400m apart. The closest HS are far away from 20/170km away. I wonder, should I try to reach em, while testing 8/10/12 dbi antennas - or should I focus on my zone and 6 hotspots? If so, which antennas could You recommend in this scenario? Hope to see some concrets from You! Lot's of fake info and various, unreliable info out there... Have a great day and thanks for sharing Your experience with Us! Best, Kam.
Nik - 8/8/2021
Kam, 20 km to the nearest hotspot will be a crapshoot. You'll hit it, but not reliably enough to generate satisfying HNT. :). Focus on providing excellent coverage locally from high spots. Double check your res 7 density for your 6 hotspots 400m away. I'd stick with the HNTenna.
KP - 8/19/2021
Hey Nik, gotta say your website is such an awesome resource which I reference almost daily. Just received several rak miners and want to get these deployed to my hosts ASAP. Is it possible to sync them all at my home simultaneously first and then send to my hosts so they’re ready to mine right off the bat? Imagine I would have to re-assert locations on them but thought this would be more efficient than having each host sync/troubleshoot themselves. Any issues you see with this or any other better suggestions to deploying at scale? Thanks!!
Nik - 8/20/2021
Yep, that's fine. You can assert their final location when you first get 'em syncing at your place.
Deena - 8/20/2021
Hi Nik... This is Deena from back on July 27rh... So, things worked out great...got my witnesses back after 3 weeks and was back in business. Then, as of Aug. 20th, Verizon upgraded the software to our home router in my area. As a result, our miner has done zero today. Question: Have you noticed that when software upgrades take place with routers there is a stall or set back with the miner's performance? For example: miner sent out 3 challenges after upgrading - nothing, zero activity! Just curious if this is okay & that I just need to be patient again, and the miner will soon do it's thing. As always, thanks in advance re: any feedback! With appreciation & regards, Deena
Nik - 8/20/2021
Yo Deena! ;) I have at least one miner that's also done zero today, looks like there's an issue with the network. I may go down tomorrow and see if I can replace the SD card (about the only thing you can do on a RAK V2), but I'm more likely to just...wait. Waiting is almost always the right answer when trying to diagnose something with Helium.
Brad - 8/20/2021
RAK has an update issue from last push. Just reboot and I am guessing it fixes it.
Deena - 8/21/2021
Nik... 100% right my friend. I really need to drink one cup of patience, daily!! My RAK7248 miner started doing its thing a few hours after I posted earlier. Fingers crossed re: your RAK V2... Thanks!! D
Nik - 8/21/2021
Right on Deena, patience for the win!
christopher - 9/25/2021
Someone came into my hex . I have a great setup 5.8 rak antenna on my roof. My scale is 1.0 . Seems like he is relayed and just starting up. Will this effect my earnings if so is there anything I can do?
Nik - 9/25/2021
Hi Christopher, Depends on what size hex (res 8, 7, etc), how many are already in it, and how many are in the hexes around you. Take a look over here to understand how that works, then see if you can reach out via Hotspotty.
Albert - 10/5/2021
My hotspot wobbly glass perch is in a hex with someone who has 2 miners in my same hex which one is offline. How can I get a better res with this guy's miner in my hex and offline? Thanks!
Nik - 10/5/2021
You'll either have to move your miner, their miners, or provide much better coverage. Have you used the Hotspotty app to see if you can contact them?
Erika B - 10/14/2021
I waited from March to end of September for Calchip to ship my miner and in that time someone bought a bobcat (got it in 3 months) and what can U do? I can't tell my neighbors not to do something in their property because I bought mine first. What about people that live in highrise buildings?
Nik - 10/15/2021
Hi Erika, about the only thing you can do is outperform them; get your antenna better positioned for more line of sight to more other hotspots. Either that or find a new location. The Network benefits less and less from each additional miner that goes in to a location where there are already miners. Earning top rewards is all about providing WUPU coverage, no consideration is given for who was there first.
Charles Carrington - 10/17/2021
I really appreciate the time you put into this info. As I just started my research and just received and started the sync process. My question lies around the cons of rebooting of the miner. I just opened the port on my router, do I benefit by rebooting? Also do you suggest powering down when disconnecting antenna coax, for lengthening purpose?
Nik - 10/17/2021
Good question Charles, I'd keep an eye on the status of the Hotspot using BFGNeil's tool. It may take a day or so to show up. Technically you should always turn off any radio device when switching antennas. Practically, it doesn't seem to matter that much. I always turn 'em off, that's just me.
j - 11/5/2021
hi, one place I have a hotspot has his house wired with rj45 I think. basically, he brought internet upstairs in his rooms. We try to connect there but the hotspot goes offline, do we really have no choice to link the router with an ethernet cable directly or wifi or is there a way it works with his internet wall connection upstairs
Nik - 11/5/2021
I always recommend connecting directly via ethernet cable, even if that means you have to run new cable.
Randy W. - 11/7/2021
@ J If his wifi is getting approximately 100Mbps download speed consistently, it should work. Another option is powerline adapters to provide an ether connection using his powerline in the house to go from one area to the next. I have one set up that way out in a garage. There is one adapter plugged in directly to the router and then plugged into the wall. THe other adpater is in the garage and the Cat5 Ethernet cable is plugged into the Bobcat miner. It's working great. Good luck!
Jaime - 11/17/2021
Hi Nik, Have you ever seen a Rak Goldspot miner (from MNTD) cause a router to keep rebooting itself when connected via an Ethernet cable? I've been using my miner successfully with Wifi for about three weeks now, but as soon as I try hard-wiring it with a cable, my Nighthawk R6400v2 router just shuts itself down and reboots, repeatedly. I've tried two different Cat 6 Ethernet cables and I've tried two different jacks in the back of the router. All signs are pointing to the fact the my router is just junk, but I was just wondering if there is anything else you can think of that I could try first.
Nik - 11/17/2021
I haven't seen that yet. I had a Nighthawk for a while and it worked well most of the time. Might be time for a new router though. :)
Aimee - 11/26/2021
Thanks for the article! We just got our antenna up and I just was wondering if you know if there are any health concerns (increased WiFi) risks with having this? Thank you!
Nik - 11/26/2021
Nope, check over here for full deets.
Matthew Miller - 12/3/2021
Does have higher speed on your internet make a difference in witnessing beacons? I know the first 18 are recognized and I'm wondering if higher speeds will help. Thanks!!
Nik - 12/3/2021
Nope, it's a random 18, not the first. As long as you're not on dial up, you should be fine.
Tee - 12/9/2021
Nik, I have a Sensecap M1 and is 100% synced but, "helium offline" is evident. I have the 44158 port opened at the internet incoming into the house . Does the wireless router need to be checked as well for proper open ports and in this case 44158?
Nik - 12/9/2021
Tee, check this post & vid I did with Neil on sorting out your hotspot. Rock 'n roll!
Bob Bremner - 12/17/2021
I have a BobCat miner that is connected by Ethernet to my Comcast internet with 100+Mbps, but it is still showing that it is relayed. I had Comcast enable the 44158 ports in both directions but that did not help the situation. What else can I try?
Nik - 12/17/2021
Hi Bob, follow the Getting Off Relay Workflow over here.
Fookingood - 12/27/2021
How many hotspots should I put into a wallet? For example, I have 10 hotspots and I'm worried about putting them inside the same wallet. Can you tell me the relation of having them in the same wallet and how it affects earnings? Thanks for the info, keep up the great content.
Nik - 12/27/2021
You can have up to 300 the last time I checked. The issues of having all of 'em in the same wallet is that it's all public info, so easier to link your earnings together. Other than the security side of having public visibility into your fleet earnings, it doesn't affect earnings at all to have multiple hotspots in the same wallet.
Sonny B - 12/27/2021
Last Sync over 2 weeks ago. Explorer/Blockchain still shows as relayed but Hotspotty showing that signal isn't relayed. Wondering what I need to do to fix on blockchain and show as synced because it says it was last synced 2 weeks ago. I have already forwarded port and checked with port checker and it shows successful port. Any help would be massively appreciated.
Nik - 12/27/2021
Hi Sonny, use HeliumStatus.io for troubleshooting, and check out our Hotspot Deliverance videos.
Sonny Bowser - 12/28/2021
Hey Nik, Thanks for quick reply...looks like all is good to go on HeliumStatus.io. Appreciate you sending my way. Going to take a look at the Vids as well. If Explorer says relayed and not synced but according to HeliumStatus.io all seems to be good to go, do I need to do anything else or this is just a common issue with blockchain updates on Explorer site? Thank you.
Nik - 12/28/2021
Trust HeliumStatus.io for realtime diagnosing. Explorer can be days behind.
Teodor - 1/2/2022
Hey Nik :) So in one of the firsts sentences you said that is waste of time to put hotspot near other if you don’t have better coverage. So I’m asking Is it a good idea to put hotspot near my neighbors hotspot ~50m away (his hotspot is placed bad inside the house ) , when i want to put my hotspot outside and upgrade the antenna
Nik - 1/2/2022
Good question. If you know they have a poor placement and you'll have an excellent placement, I'd certainly try it.
Glenn - 1/30/2022
I have had my miner for 5 days and I’m the only one within a mile radius (based on the hex map) my question is about the port opening port…. I have been trying to open the port on 2 different routers with no success, so I’m am still being relayed. One router is a att u-verse and the other is a net gear model MR1100. The att videos that I have watched on YouTube is not the same as the one I have so the interface is different so I can’t get it to work. For the other router there is no videos to use for reference. At this point I’m kinda aggravated. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Nik - 1/30/2022
Hi Glenn, see if this workflow helps you out.
Sen - 2/5/2022
Hey Nik, I'm planning to order hellium miner, but there is no other miner in our area and there aren't many smart devices either. Can I still mine them or will it work if I buy 3 or 4 miner and install them in a strategic place.?
Nik - 2/5/2022
Hi Sen, if you're the only one around you'll mine very little. 3-4 is a bare minimum, I'd be looking for at least 6, although if the 4 all have clear line of sight to each other that'll work well enough.
Urs Wirthmueller - 2/10/2022
Hello Nik - thank you for lightening up the somewhat obscure world of helium mining! I have two miners, one reasonably working well in my home in the city. The other one has been installed and added to the blockchain almost three weeks ago. It’s located in the holiday house in the mountains wir no other miners within a radius of about 15 miles. This miner keeps toggling between “synching” and “needs attention - offline”. The miner is connected via a LAN cable and can always been pinged from afar. My question is if this behavior is the consequence of being a lonely miner or if it’s a problem with the unit itself? Regards from Switzerland Urs
Nik - 2/10/2022
Hi Urs, hmm if it's been going for 3 weeks and is still syncing, I'd check a few things. -Activity on the Explorer app. Is there anything there other than Constructing Challenges? Should be at least Beaconing Challenges -If there's no line of sight to other Hotspots and you don't have plans of installing an IoT sensor network, it may be best to move it (if your goal is to earn HNT) -Have you made sure the correct ports are open? 44158 is the usual culprit there. -Have you power cycled it? Usually that's a reasonable thing to do after 48+ hours of "needs attention - offline"
Joshua Froberg - 3/9/2022
Hey there, Nik. I have 12 sensecap m1 miners, 3 bobcats, 1 Rak wireless, and 2 nebras. Initially, while building my house, I had 1 on the first floor of a large apt complex with 3 other miners in my hex. I had a stock setup and somehow still out performed the others that were higher and had better setups. (Only earned 5 hnt per month but I have a 1000+mbps gaming wifi router. Any idea as to why this happened? Also I have depended on trading daily for 5 years now so I’m well versed in that area. My new house could barely allow texts and phone calls to function both ways until I set up wifi but HOA had to ruin the excitement of killer earnings by making me remove the 5.8 fib antenna from the roof. I have every antenna under the sun but was thinking of just using an enclosure for a hidden spot at the highest point. I would have to sacrifice using my Ethernet cable but would it be a better choice with 2-300 mbps both ways just to get it to a clear line of site? I live in Texas so I am blessed with flat terrain and I am a few hex from the edge of the massive grouping of hotspots (all 1-2 story houses until It reaches hotspots in Dallas) same as the second one that I put up at a friends house but that one actually kept up with the one that was wired, had outdoor fiberglass 5.8, and higher positioning. The other one is connected via wifi, inside and just supported in the corner of a room upstairs just by the thickness of the high quality cable near a window. The one I had to move is lower on the backside of the roof but connected with a 14ft 25$ cable. Any suggestions for the others. The 2 make an average of 12-18 bucks a day combined. My family owns commercial buildings all over mckinney and are some of the tallest buildings within a 30 mile radias. I have more enclosures and was wondering if rooftop placement connected to wifi wirelessly to router right below or having them wired on the 5th story attached to the inside of the floor to ceiling windows with 5.8-8 Dbi antennas. Maybe even 10-12 dbi? Those hexes are empty too and some of the buildings are 400 meters+ meaning I could try different miners and antennas. Last question. Is there ahotspot or wireless Services I could use? If I have two modems in my house can I utilize that as well? Sorry for the unnecessary amount of questions that I probably could have researched a bit more. I was just looking for a experience over “In theory” answer if possible.
Nik - 3/9/2022
Hi Josh, whew, that's a lot of questions. You can def go through the blogs and answer 'em. Consider joining the Gristle Crüe to connect with a savvy group, or a custom consult if you want to save time.
Paul - 3/23/2022
Hi, my bobcat 300 is arriving tomorrow and looking forward to getting going. My question is around spoofing. I am in a very low density area but there are two hotspots in my hex, however the adjacent hex to me has none and is literally about 30 meters away in grassland so unlikely to have any more arrive anytime soon. My question is when setting up is it ok for me to set location in this adjacent hex with it being so near or do I risk penalties of some sort. Thx in advance
Nik - 3/23/2022
Hi Paul, typically it's OK to assert within 150m for privacy reasons.
Danny - 4/8/2022
Hello Dear Nik & the rest of your followers. I activated my bobcat miner on 23rd of March 2022. Sadly I have very poor translation scales and I have changed my antenna to 8,0 dBi, no changes at all. My hotspot is : Stale Wooden Porcupine, Helsinki-Finland I had to close my restaurant because of COVID-19 situation. I need a friendly advice from you to guide me please. I only know the basic use of computer ?? I believe that I have a problem with DATA, because it doesn’t show it. I appreciate any help. Thank you anyways. Best regards from Finland! ????
Nik - 4/8/2022
Hi Danny, for the next few weeks, until Light Hotspots are activated, you can expect wildly variant earnings for Hotspots and in general LOW earnings.
Pat - 6/5/2022
Hi Nik, I need to place my antenna 213ft away!! I have options though as I can run power to the miner at the location, my question is, what is the maximum length of cat6e or better I can use. I don’t want to use PoE as I run radio equipment that suffers with that technology.
Nik - 6/5/2022
100 meters for cat 6.
Sam - 8/15/2022
What happen if I followed to someone on helium minor app with purple flag on app sensecap us 915
kshaul - 10/21/2022
I was wondering if I made a mistake and my Bobcat miner 300 is registered with the bobber app and helium hotspot app at the same time? I just got my miner know very little about. All I know the most is that it was very convenient. I might have moved to fast and thought the bobber app wasn’t going to work and put my 300 miner online so I tried going back and fourth to the two apps from my App Store. I have made a few cents, but am worried now that both the bobber app and helium hotspot app both is registered to the same miner with fixed placement when I think only one should be. This isn’t about wallet registration I’m talkin over all 10 replacement registration according to the rules if moved. Please help I’m confused ah thanks
John - 7/25/2023
Hi Nik and warm greetings to you. As we are aware, helium moved to IOT and now there is this HIP 83. The idea is to reward fast miners. Have you done any tests on what kind of miners can make good rewards? For example I have a bobcat 300 and it use to do 350 iot but now it only does 150 iot. My Internet is 1GB download and 100mb upload. When I go to bobcat miner menu via ip and click on speed test, this is what it shows. { "DownloadSpeed": "92.29 Mbit/s", "UploadSpeed": "50.03 Mbit/s", "Latency": "9.749117ms" } When I go to speed test and I test my speed, this is what it shows. DOWNLOAD Mbps 931.95 UPLOAD Mbps 105.41 Idle latency 11, download latency 21 upload latency 53. Each test I do it is around these numbers. Antenna is 6 DBI with a cavity filter. I have an amplifier from acasom which is RX12 TX 3. Can this amplifier hurt the witnessing? Without it, when I beacon I get 14 people witnessing me all the time. I have this Helium geek app and I can see the grey icon which is the unselected hotspots. This icon never goes above 20 minutes because the hotspot is seeing many beacons but I don't get rewarded that often. Maybe every 2 hours or so, which is in the middle icon. When I am in this helium geek app and click top right icon which shows the list or what my miner so and was awared for, I can see the arrival order. I am always late in time gap against other beacons. Biggest question is how do we improve this? Speed of internet is there. Antenna is up at least 20 m high. LMR 400 cable in 10 m length. Any advice? Thanks
Nik - 7/25/2023
Hi John Doe, HIP 83 is first 14 to witness if there are more than 14. If you're the 15th fastest miner, you'll never earn. It sounds like you're in a crowded area that has Hotspots with faster connections around you. Best option for earning (certainly not the easiest) will be to move your Hotspot to a place where you have less competition and can provide unique coverage. Does that make sense?
Raymond Marazzo - 11/20/2025
Is all this info still good?
Nik - 11/20/2025
Nope, it's well out of date. Sorry Ray!