5G Miner

A 5G Miner is used to mine HNT on the Helium Network by Proof-of-Coverage and transferring 5G data . According to 3 important HIPs – HIP51 , HIP52, and HIP53*, HNT mining will be separated to subDAOs. It means a 5G miner can earn more without affected by existing LoRaWAN Miners! Please read these HIPs. The next big change! You will be “Hotspot Operator”, you can have a “5G Hotspot” and “Mapper” to earn HNT from the 70% Mobile DAO.

The Bobber 500 5G Miner can mine HNT – HLT (Helium LoRaWAN Token) + MNT / HMT? (Mobile Network Token) by providing both 5G Mobile and LoRaWAN coverage. Before HIP53 is activated, you can mine under the LoRaWAN subDAO. After HIP53 is activated, your miner will mine both 5G and LoRaWAN subDAOs. The earlier you start to mine under the 5G subDAO, the more HNTs you can earn. Remember, it was normal to earn several HNTs per day at the beginning of LoRaWAN subDAO.

You can only buy a Bobber 500 in the US (CBRS). Please make sure you buy it from the official website. https://www.bobcatminer.com.

The Bobber 500 is a 5G + LoRaWAN Gateway. You will also get a LoRaWAN 4dBi Anetnna together with the Gateway. But to make 5G work, you have to buy another thing similar as the Antenna – Small Cell. The Bobber 500 is using FreedomFi software to connect to the Small Cell. Bobcat has very good quality hardware but for Small Cells- they were made by many existing 5G manufacturers. For example, Baicells, SerComm, etc. Due to the shortage of Small Cells, I definitely suggest you buy a Bobber 500 Gateway + Radio Bundle for now. Currently, there are two types of small cells can work with Bobber 500 ($999). Indoor(ex. SerComm, $1,499.00) and Outdoor (ex. Baicells Nova 430i,​ $2,499.00). I believe more and more will join in the future. For example, Baicells 436q and Baicells nova-227, etc.

For people want to use indoors or outdoors who have a Balcony or street facing window, you can buy an Indoor small cell because a small cell covers 180°. In my own test, the 5G speed of Bobber 500 + SerComm bundle is faster than other combinations (just FYI) double!.

(1). Hardware

The Bobber 500 is using an indurstrial level Mother Board that can be used in medical / millitary field. That means it’s durable with good stadiblity. (Specification) Quad-core Atom x6413e 3.0GHz CPU has a very good score. CPU is critical for mining. (https://www.cpubenchmark.net/) DDR4-2666Mhz 4GB Ram, 64GB SSD, very performant for both LoRa and 5G.

(2). Software

The Bobber 500 is using same 5G Software as FreedomFi. FreedomFi is the core team that is working together with Helium to enable 5G PoC on the People’s Network. They also have many years of private 5G network construction experience. By using FreedomFi 5G software, the Bobber 500 can get the same level of service support from FreedomFi. The Bobber 500 indurstrial level hardware can get better Data Transfer Speed than any other brands. We’ve seen about 200Mbps download speed.

Bobber 500 needs has a 60W(12V * 5A) power adapter, but it needs about 20W power in the real test. For Bobber 500 itself, you may need at least 30W POE Injector which can be found on Amazon easily but I don’t suggest using POE on Bobber 500. Since you can choose indoor / outdoor small cells, you may want to use PoE for the small cell from your Bobber 500. For Baicell small cells, they are all basically PoE, you don’t have to buy another one. But for the Bobber 500, I don’t suggest using PoE because you need to put it indoor anyways. If you want to put it somewhere far from your location, you can use 15M/49ft Ethernet Cable Cat5e Network LAN/Power Extension Cord.

For SerComm Small Cell (12V * 2.5A, 30W). You can DIY at your own risk but it will work if you are using a good quality POE injector or POE from your router is >=30W.

It’s very expensive to build a 5G Network. Look at this cost estimate: https://img.lightreading.com/2021/04/769114/8058.jpg . A report said Verizon only deployed about 15000 5G stations in last year. To support future technologies such as Meta Universe, AR, VR, Games, Videos… We definitely need a high speed Mobile Network. Helium is making this great thing possible! The cost of a Gateway+Small Cell bundle is way cheaper than building a station by providers. After the People’s Network is done, I believe all the providers will start to roam on the People’s Network. The more HNTs burned to DC, the higher the HNT prices will go. It’s time to start your HNT mining right now! The world’s biggest network is coming! Don’t regret in the future, 10 years ago, the BitCoin price was less than $1. Helium Network is such a useful network for people to build IoT solutions and transfer data, it’s priceless!