A Review of the Linxdot Helium Miner

Linxdot is one of many companies that produce Helium hotspot miners. Helium has long since outsourced the creation of the miners that create and run their LoRaWAN network, and a number of companies have entered the playing field with miners of their own. As there are many different brands of Helium miners, it is important to figure out which one is best suited for your mining setup based on the price, its performance, and the company itself. 

Helium miners have similar hardware that, due to the nature of Helium mining, makes it so their performance is similar across the various companies. As there is no single miner that outshines the rest, it falls to a few other specifications to decide which miner is best for you.

• Reliability
• Cost
• Customer service

At the beginning of 2022, supply chain issues plagued Helium miners just as they did the rest of the world. These supply chain issues hit right as Helium miner sales exploded, leaving the companies in a position where they had a spike in demand right when their supplies dwindled. These companies, Linxdot included, had their supplies on a huge backorder. Unfortunately, Linxdot did not handle the situation very well as worried customers began asking for refunds or an update on the status of their orders. They were vague in their responses and left a lot of customers worried that they had lost their money and would never see their Linxdot Helium miners. 

User Reviews

The most recent user reviews for the Linxdot Helium miner are bad. There are a lot of people on Trustpilot warning against purchasing a Linxdot Helium miner due to poor reliability and customer service from the company.  The overall rating of miners is 3.6 stars out of five with 566 reviews, but a lot of the reviews from the second half of 2022 are negative. There are two major gripes in these reviews

• One is that the miner never showed up. These reviews are often from people who purchased their miner during the time when there were supply chain issues, but it appears that even now there are still users who haven’t been refunded or received their product. 
• Another is that the miners do not work. All of the technology could be functioning, but miners need to connect to Helium’s network in order to start mining, and some reviews state that their Linxdot Helium miner was never able to connect to the network.

Through these reviews, it appears that Linxdot has not yet recovered from its struggles during the supply shortage. The comments regarding inoperable miners are the most concerning because a lot of the troubleshooting has to come from the company. If the company is not very responsive, well, it becomes very hard to figure out what might be wrong. While the hardware inside of Helium miners is pretty standard, the way that they connect to the network and mine happens through their company, not Helium. 

Due to the array of negative reviews, we do not recommend buying a Linxdot Helium miner. Rather, one of the alternatives like Bobcat or Nebra may net you a better overall experience. 

Performance

For those with Linxdot Helium miners working in their homes, it appears that the performance is up to par with the rest of the Helium miners on the market. As with all Helium miners, the location and placement is what matters most when it comes down to Helium miner profitability. You want your miner’s antenna to have as much of an unobstructed view of the horizon as possible. This could be as simple as placing your miner in an upstairs window or running an antenna outside to the roof. 

One area that is outside of your control, however, is the density of miners in your general vicinity. If there are an abundance of miners within your hex it will be difficult for you to gain any traction and mine any HNT because of how their network distributes the rewards. 

Linxdot Helium Miner Models

Linxdot has one available Helium miner (their full hotspot) and three more that are very close to being released. This release will open up the doors for a lot more variability in the effect of each miner, but for now, only their full hotspot is available. 

Full Hotspot

Features Include

• Frequency range of 868 MHz and 915 MHz
• Designed for Helium LongFi
• 190 x 190 x 50 mm
• Bluetooth, WiFi, and ethernet connectivity
• 3 dBi LoRa antenna 
• Quad-Core CPU up to 1.8Ghz
• 2 GB Ram
• The first fee included (onboarding of $40 and setup of $10)

The Linxdot Full Hotspot is a little cheaper than the rest, coming in at around $330 and it connects to Helium’s LongFi network and provides a lot of coverage in the surrounding area. Each hotspot builds Helium’s IoT network while mining your HNT. Linxdot provides a mobile app that makes the setup process quick and painless while also allowing you to keep tabs on your miner, ensuring that everything is proceeding without issue. Right now, their customer service and mobile app work very well in regard to overall customer satisfaction. 

Light Hotspot

Features Include

• Frequency range of 868 MHz and 915 MHz
• Designed for Helium LongFi
• 190 x 190 x 50 mm
• Bluetooth, WiFi, and ethernet connectivity
• 3 dBi LoRa antenna 
• Quad-Core CPU up to 1.8Ghz
• 1 GB Ram
• The first fee included (onboarding of $40 and setup of $10)

The Linxdot Light Hotspot provides similar coverage to its full hotspot counterpart while focusing on proof of coverage and data transfer. Full Helium hotspots, which are the most common model at this time, act as links in the Helium blockchain throughout the world, while light hotspots do not. In practical terms, what does that mean? In terms of HNT earnings, not much! Light hotspots partake in the proof of coverage rewards as well as the data transfer rewards. 

Their big difference from full hotspots is that they are not on the blockchain. As the Helium network has grown and grown, the environment that’s been created with hotspots and validators is no longer optimized. The introduction of light hotspots is working to fix that optimization problem. 

Outdoor Hotspot

Features Include

• Frequency range of 868 MHz and 915 MHz
• Designed for Helium LongFi
• Waterproof, aluminum IP67-rated case
• 190 x 190 x 50 mm
• Bluetooth, WiFi, and ethernet connectivity
• 3 dBi LoRa antenna 
• Dual-Core CPU up to 1.35Ghz
• 1 GB Ram
• The first fee included (onboarding of $40 and setup of $10)

The Linxdot Outdoor Hotspot will soon enter the marketplace and will bring a new way to mine HNT. Outdoor hotspots have, more or less, the same hardware as full hotspots and are designed to fit into a weatherproofed case that will survive in the elements for a long time. Outdoor miners create a new way to mine HNT by finding optimal places to set up your network. Due to the general rule that two miners within about 1,000 feet of one another will mine inefficiently, it is difficult to set up more than one in a single home. 

The introduction of outdoor hotspots opens up the floor for many more potential places to mine, as well as a wider area to place a miner where it will optimally mine HNT. Location is everything when it comes to Helium miner profitability, and being able to place your miner higher up and outside will increase its coverage and increase your rewards. 

5G Hotspot

The Linxdot 5G hotspot is not yet on the market, but it will open up a new way to mine. For one, there is a different crypto coin for Helium’s upcoming 5G network, the MOBILE coin. The 5G hotspot allows customers to mine on a new network and make earnings separate from their earnings on the LoRaWAN network. 

Helium’s 5G CBRS network is their next big project. 5G networks will revolutionize communication, and Helium is currently laying the foundation for its 5G network to become the next big thing. There is a lot of potential for rewards on their new network. 

Investing in Helium’s 5G network is a risky proposition because it is still in the final stages of development and because the conventional Helium miners, Linxdot full miners, will not mine on that network. There are a few models of Helium 5G miners on the market right now, and they are much more expensive than the conventional Helium miners that mine on the LoRaWAN network. 5G Helium miners are over $1,000, making it a much larger investment. Buying a Helium miner is always a risk because it is possible that you will never make a return on your investment that’s over the cost of the money you put into it. 

An Overview of Crypto Mining on Helium’s LoRaWAN Network

Linxdot Helium miners, and Helium miners in general, act as hotspots in Helium’s nationwide LongFi network that connects all the devices on the internet of things. In a very general sense, Helium is attempting to create decentralized wireless networks that accomplish two goals.

• Connect the internet of things, which consists of every device that can connect to the internet
• Create a mobile network that becomes a cheap and reliable alternative to networks as we know them today. 

Helium miners spread their network and make it stronger, more reliable, and cover more area, and in return, everyone who has a Helium miner up and running receives rewards in the form of HNT that are, roughly, proportional to the work they are doing on the network. 

What is HNT Used for?

Helium’s token, HNT, functions the same as any other cryptocurrency! There are, in essence, three things that you can do with cryptocurrency.

• You can purchase cryptocurrency on various exchanges. Helium’s coin can be bought and sold on just about any exchange. There is an interesting value question when it comes to Helium miners. If, for instance, you were willing to spend $400 on your Helium miner and setup, you could instead purchase $400 worth of HNT on the market. That is, of course, much less fun than setting up your own miner!
• You can receive cryptocurrency as a payment for certain services. Helium’s service works through them giving every hotspot operator an HNT payment for their operation. 
• Cryptocurrency can be mined, which is the most common way it is produced and distributed. Every Helium hotspot operator mines HNT. 

While Helium miners are the only way to mine HNT, there is not always a great return on investment for their purchase. Of course, if you don’t ever receive your Helium miner it’s a wash, but there are people who never manage to make more than a few cents each day due to poor location in relation to other miners or by putting the antenna in a bad spot. You can always check Helium Explorer to see if your area is right for another Helium miner. 

Linxdot Helium Miners on the LoRaWAN Network

Helium’s LoRaWAN IoT network was created to provide a fast and secure way for the internet of things devices to communicate. This network is primarily used in machine-to-machine or machine-to-database communication. This allows corporations and companies to connect devices over a huge area without first building a significant infrastructure to support them. This network, as well, is able to transmit data at a much lower cost than other networks have been able to do in the past. 

The number of IoT devices in the world is staggering. It’s become very easy for devices to have a way to connect to the internet to increase their uses and convenience. Linxdot Helium miners connect to the internet, be it through Bluetooth, ethernet, or Wi-Fi. They use that connection to spread their radio frequency net and, in turn, connect IoT devices to the internet. Linxdot Helium miners don’t use a lot of bandwidth, so you should not notice any change in your available internet at home. Or, in fact, your electric bill! Helium miners only use about $1 worth of electricity each month, making it very cheap to keep a Helium miner up and running. 

How to Maximize Your Linxdot Helium Miner’s Profitability

This is the question, is it not? Helium mining has no guarantee that it will be profitable, but you should always take all the right steps to make it as profitable as possible in your home. There are a lot of people who are making good money from their Helium miner that’s set up in their homes. Once you set up your Helium miner, for better and for worse, there’s not anything you can do to increase its HNT production.  That HNT production will vary depending on a few variables, but if your positioning is favorable you could see some nice rewards on your new Linxdot Helium miner. 

There are a few factors that go into your Helium miner’s profitability, but it all depends on how many hotspots are nearby as well as the data that’s being moved on the network. Those variables are, unfortunately, outside of your control, but if you live in a bad area for Helium mining today might not be the day to join Helium’s worldwide network. Helium mining can be a great paycheck boost at the end of the week, or it can be so frustrating that you decide to sell or scrap your miner after a year. Check your area on Helium Explorer, make sure you purchase the right miner, and set it up in the most favorable location you can find. If you do that, you will undoubtedly maximize your Helium miner’s profitability!

Is it the Right Time to Join Helium’s Worldwide Network?

Perhaps the most important thing to do before getting a Helium miner is to do the research. Helium is not something you should rush into because some of the variables outside of your control have huge impacts on your Helium miner’s profitability. The fact that you’re here speaks volumes to your upfront preparation. Before you go, here are a few key takeaways from this article to keep in mind as you decide whether or not to purchase a Helium miner. 

• The user reviews of Linxdot Helium miners are bad, bad enough that we do not recommend purchasing one of their miners. Keep an eye on the reviews, but for now, we recommend purchasing one of the other better Helium miners on the market. 
• Linxdot will soon have four Helium miner models in their store, allowing you to purchase one that well suits your needs (if the company starts getting good reviews).
• Helium’s cryptocurrency HNT is given to miners for the upkeep of Helium’s network

Every user on the network receives HNT every day, but the amount varies from person to person