Helium Hotspot Miner : What is a Helium hotspot miner?

Helium Hotspot Miners are wireless devices similar to routers that miners purchase to participate in the network and receive mining rewards. Individuals use hotspot devices that function as nodes to incentivize consumers to help construct this decentralised wireless network.

Mining HNT is done by installing a simple device on your home or office window. That’s it. Seriously. Hotspots provide miles of wireless network coverage for millions of devices around you using Helium LongFi, and you are rewarded in HNT for doing this.

And because of an innovative proof-of-work model (we call it “Proof-of-Coverage”), your Hotspot only uses 5W of energy.

What is a Helium hotspot miner?

The Helium hotspot, according to Helium, can extend WiFi’s range by a factor of 200. The reason for this is LongFi, a new wireless technology developed by Helium. Helium’s LongFi combines the established LoRaWAN wireless protocol with the blockchain technology developed by Helium.

Helium is a WiFi router that eliminates the need for a centralised cellular provider and the associated data caps and overage fees. In addition, Helium hotspots don’t need any additional accessories, such as SIM cards, to function. By default, they are also fully encrypted.

Helium-approved third-party manufacturers sell hotspots that users can purchase. RAK, Nebra HNT, and Bobcat Helium Miners are three of the most well-known brands in the industry. Helium Hotspots can be purchased for around $400 USD.

How do I earn HNT?

Participants earn HNT by mining and building coverage for The People’s Network using compatible Hotspots.

Millions of compatible devices can use The People’s Network and each device requires Data Credits (DC) in order to send data to the Internet.

Fixed in value, DC are created by ‘burning’ HNT, reducing the total supply to achieve a Burn and Mint Equilibrium. The more devices using DC, the more HNT will be burned.

As well as earning HNT, deploying a Hotspot helps local businesses build powerful new wireless devices and sensor applications. Discover new hardware and software solutions using and supporting The People’s Network on our Ecosystem page.

How are Tokens Earned?

Hotspots earn HNT for building and securing network infrastructure and transferring device data.

The amount of HNT distributed to Hotspots depends on the type of “work” they perform based on the value to the network. This validation of network contribution is accomplished by a new work algorithm called Proof-of-Coverage (PoC).

To participate in PoC, Hotspots receive instructions (or ‘challenges’) from Validators to transmit payloads to any nearby Hotspots to witness and verify. These single-hop challenges are also known as ‘beacons’. Hotspots without neighbors earn less as they can only mine HNT for data transfer and are unable to have their beacons verified. After the first year, distribution amounts adjust.