![]() Each Hotspot is set up and configured using the Helium mobile app, which takes you through connecting your device to your home internet connection, via either Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It’s a square box that needs to be plugged in near a window to give the best coverage. In the UK, each Hotspot costs €450 (around £412). ![]() Finally, Hotspots with the highest Proof-of-Coverage scores become part of the Consensus Group that perform tasks, such as validating transactions and publishing new blocks to the blockchain.Īll of this happens automatically, so it’s really just a matter of getting a Helium Hotspot and plugging it in. Hotspot owners are also paid for transfers over the network that pass through their device. This is designed to check if hotspots are providing the level of coverage that they say they are, to prevent people from buying a load of hotspots, hiding them in a cupboard and mining cryptocurrency. First, you can earn it if your hotspot takes part in an algorithm called Proof-of-Coverage. ![]() Owners of Hotspots then earn HNT themselves for taking part in the network. Data Credits must be bought with the network’s own cryptocurrency, Helium (HNT), which can be traded for real money. Use of the network for devices incurs a charge in Data Credits. The difference with this Hotspot is that everything is powered by the Helium blockchain, which is similar to how cryptocurrencies work, such as Bitcoin. Or, a pet tracker could use the LoRaWAN network, giving you live updates as to where it is. Typical devices that use LoRaWAN are Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and trackers, which need to be reliable and battery-powered but don’t need to transfer large amounts of data.įor example, in a smart city, a smart sensor can let councils know which recycling bins are full, saving fuel by only sending trucks to the bins that actually need emptying. Whereas Wi-Fi is designed to be fast over relatively short distances, LoRaWAN is designed for smaller amounts of data over a longer range. Essentially, it’s a long-range hotspot that uses the Helium LongFi protocol, a combination of the LoRaWAN wireless protocol and Helium blockchain. Simple to set up, slightly harder to understand what it doesĪs this is something quite different, it makes sense to start this review explaining exactly what the Helium Hotspot can do.It’s an interesting technology and, once set up, you don’t have to do anything to your hotspot bar giving it a reliable internet connection, but it’s far from certain if you’ll make your money back. That might not sound particularly exciting, but the box can also earn you a new cryptocurrency, giving you money to pay back your investment. The Helium Hotspot is designed to provide a long-range wireless network for low-power sensors and trackers, giving you the chance to help build a decentralised Internet of Things network.
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