A Review of the RAK Hotspot Miner
Specs:
- What it "Mines": Helium (HNT)
- Power Consumption: 5 Watts (About the same as an LED light)
- Range: Up to 10 miles in rural areas and about 1 mile in urban areas
- Controller: 2GB RAM Raspberry Pi 4
The Review:
First off, hello everyone, and welcome back to another miner review! I haven't really posted too many mining-related things lately, as I simply haven't been able to get my hands on any new cool miners. I did get some more GPUs, but that isn't quite exciting enough to write about... Anyways, this review isn't exactly a typical power-hungry miner, but is something a little... Different. Having only really mined with ASICs and GPUs that use Proof-of-Work (PoW), I had never heard of the concept of "Proof-of-Coverage" prior to learning about the RAK Hotspot Miner.
Basically, these RAK Hotspot Miners use a technology architecture called "Helium LongFi" can earn Helium (HNT) for validating wireless coverage delivered by peers by combining the LoRaWAN wireless technology with the Helium Blockchain. These miners can have a range of up to 10 miles in rural, flat areas, but up to a mile in more dense, urban areas. RAK Miners must be placed at least 300 meters apart, though single RAK miners earn less since they cannot participate in Proof-of-Coverage and instead only really operate by connecting to peers on the internet.
Each unit set me back 299 US dollars from the official RAK website. Each package includes a 32GB SD Card, the miner itself, a LoRa Antenna, and a USB Type C power adapter. Shipping however did take about 4 weeks, but amid shipping disruptions brought upon by current global situations, it isn't too bad? The setup was extremely easy, and isn't as overwhelming as setting up a Bitmain Antminer the first time. Most of the setup can actually be done on your phone through the Helium app. The devices themselves look pretty well built, are quite small, and look pretty nice. Nice enough to put on a desk at least.
The miners themselves run entirely quietly (no fans) and use just 5 watts of power. At 0.10 US dollars per KWh, it costs just under $4.50 to run for an entire year. Personally, I purchased 2 devices, one placed in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, and one placed in downtown Toronto, Ontario Canada. While the Surrey unit barely scraped 0.1 HNT a day (About 40 US Cents at the time of writing this article), the unit in Toronto was able to generate close to 1.2 HNT a day (About $4.80 US at the time of writing this article) thanks to being placed in a highly dense urban environment. In other words, the two units will easily pay for themselves in within a year, and also generate me HNT to trade, HODL, or spend as long as there aren't too many fluctuations. Not too bad if you ask me.
Pros:
- Relatively cheap for people to get into cryptocurrencies (Compared to buying an Antminer and having to also pay huge electricity bills)
- Completely silent. No super bright flashy lights.
- Easy to set up. Very low maintenance. Very little technical skill required.
- Currently, able to generate a decent amount of profit.
- Small enough to put on a desk or in a corner without really realizing it.
- Everything you need comes in the box. The SD card is by Sandisk if you're curious.
Cons:
- Very vulnerable to changes in the price of HNT.
- May not be the cheapest miner, since 299 US for a tiny little device isn't quite the best deal out there. (At the end of the day, it's a Raspberry Pi 4)
- Shipping is really slow.
- You probably won't make much unless you're in a very urban environment (At 40 cents a day in Surrey, it really wasn't making much)
Disclaimer:
I am not in any way affiliated with RAK, Bitmain, Helium, or any other crypto/crypto-related company. I am not a financial advisor, nor am I endorsing this product. This is simply an honest review based off my own personal experiences. Everyone has different experiences.
Remember, investments in cryptocurrencies are like any other investment: Invest only what you can afford to lose. No investment is a guarantee.
For my followers, thanks again for tuning in! I have preordered FutureBit's BTC miner today, and am hoping to get it in early-April and start mining. I'll write out a review as soon as I can!
