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RAKwireless launched a consumer miner for Helium’s IoT network

October 5, 2021 by Stacey Higginbotham 5 Comments

RAKwireless, which makes IoT gateways and hotspots for Helium’s IoT network under the CalChip brand, is launching a new Helium hotspot and miner designed for the mainstream consumer. The device is called MNTD, and it will cost $400. The big bonus for Helium fans is that the miner/hotspot will ship two weeks after it is ordered, with customers only allowed to order when inventory is available. This is the second consumer-oriented miner for the Helium network after last week’s launch of a window-mounted mining device called Finestra, and a mark of the growth of the Helium LoRaWAN network and business model.

Helium is building out a peer-to-peer distributed low-power wide-area network for the IoT by using a cryptocurrency to reward people for hosting hotspots on their Wi-Fi networks. Each miner sits on a Wi-Fi network creating part of a LoRa mesh network (using the consumer’s Wi-Fi for backhaul to the internet). LoRa provides long-distance coverage of up to a few miles for very small bits of data. In exchange for the use of the home Wi-Fi, Helium miners mint Helium Network Tokens (HNTs). These HNTs are used by companies that want to use the Helium LoRa network to buy data credits for their devices. Thus, the price of HNT’s should reflect demand for the network.

The new Minted Miners resemble the original Helium miner packaging. Image courtesy of RAKwireless.

Here’s where I should tell you that I own and Helium hotspot and have unwittingly mined thousands worth of HNTs. This is not an encouragement to purchase the devices. In the last few months, the number of HNTs mined by my hotspot (which is one of the original Helium branded hotspots manufactured by RAK) has gone from mining several HNTs a week to mining one or even less. This is a function of changes to the network and a nearby neighbor setting up their own hotspot.

Miners awaiting shipping. Image courtesy of RAK Wireless.

I don’t mind, as I plugged the device in because I want to see a low-cost LPWAN available for IoT devices such as trackers, open close sensors, weather stations, and more. But casual consumers hearing tales of Helium riches should check out the coverage maps and expect much less if they buy the MNTD device today.

The new devices are RAK’s answer to the high demand for Helium miners as the price of the Helium Network Tokens rise and chip shortages make it impossible get fulfill orders in a timely manner. For example, my colleague Kevin ordered Helium miner back in March, which he is still waiting for. Jose Marcelino, a solutions architect with RAK, says that the company has doubled the number of miners it has made, but demand from companies that buy miners in bulk means consumers are stuck waiting for a long time.

The component storage has also caused problems. Helium routers use Raspberry Pis as the computer inside, and Marcelino says that it can be hard to get those boards quickly, so plans to allow more computers to run the HNT algorithms would help speed up the ability to provide miners. Other component shortages or price hikes, such as the rise in copper prices, have caused problems in making antennas. So while MNTD devices will have the same constraints in manufacturing as other Helium hotspots, the company will only allow people to buy five miners at a time and will offer live tracking, so people know when they buy the miner they will get it within two weeks.

The goal with MNTD is to spread the Helium network out across many homes and many people, making it more resilient and providing better coverage. As a big believer in LoRa networks, I’m all in favor of this goal.

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Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: Helium, RakWireless, Senet

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Comments

  1. Rick Bullotta says

    October 5, 2021 at 9:45 am

    “Very small bits of data”. This may prove to be the ultimate challenge, as we start to push more intelligence towards the edge. AFAIK no one has created a magic bullet to solve the OTA problem for edge devices over low capacity networks. Curious to hear if there is work underway to address this. I had some ahem – unusual – ideas for this that involved dual radios and “update drones”. Open to other ideas.

    Reply
    • Rick says

      October 20, 2021 at 6:50 pm

      Low cost Satellite IoT is around the corner. eSAT Global will be launching its network toward the end of net year. – GLOBALLY

      Reply
  2. jon farrell says

    October 18, 2021 at 11:29 pm

    So what value is ” with customers only allowed to order when inventory is available” when they are unavailable like every other devices…Who has actually got stock?

    US/CAN: Not accepting new orders at this time.
    Europe: Not accepting new orders at this time.
    Australia: Not accepting new orders at this time.

    https://www.calchipconnect.com/pages/helium-compatible-miner-waitlist

    Reply
  3. Rui says

    October 24, 2021 at 10:45 am

    it looks like something is very wrong with this manufacturer. there are thousands of customers who ordered in March who have not yet received their order and now acept orders before filling the previous orders that are already paid.

    Reply
  4. Singh says

    February 19, 2022 at 11:54 am

    Sir I want to know the RAK miner. A nd how many HNT will be generate in 24Hrs. If we want to buy in Bulk and under MLM. pls contact my mail. pls sent me your contact and Gmail.

    Reply

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