Helium Miner Profitability in 2023 — Here’s All You Need to Know!

Good news! It is not too late to earn some passive income on Helium, although it is not the printing press that it once was. Does that mean it's time to give up on Helium? No! There are some more variables to consider and we do not recommend jumping at your first chance to order a Helium miner, but there are plenty of areas in which you could see nice profits from your little box in the background, humming away.

What is Helium up to These Days?

Helium is in an interesting spot right now because it’s on the cusp of launching a new product — a 5G CBRS network. There is an entirely new crypto coin, a new network, and new models of miners able to mine on the network. Their new network and the MOBILE coin might approach some of the heights of their previous heyday or even exceed them, only time will tell. 

At the beginning of 2022, they ran into some indirect supply issues because they outsourced all of their hotspot construction. There are a handful of companies that have Helium miners, but when there was a shortage of a lot of electronic parts all of those companies suffered by not being able to meet the demand from their customers. Unfortunately, a lot of those companies also were not very communicative with said customers, and you may see that there are a lot of bad reviews on Helium miners that stem from people (rightfully upset) talking about the fact that their order was getting delayed and delayed and they had not heard anything from the company. 

Fortunately, those times are past! The companies have gotten their shipping times down to reasonable waits and there’s been a resurgence of people buying the miners now that the companies are back on track. 

Is Helium Mining Profitable?

The question of the hour. Is Helium mining profitable? It certainly can be! There are still a lot of people who are making good money from their Helium miner that’s set up in their home, and once you make that first investment there is not much you can do except sit back and watch your rewards roll in. Those rewards will vary depending on a few variables, but there is a lot of money to be made with Helium mining. 

The launch of their new 5G CBRS network brings with it a lot of potential earnings. Unfortunately, the miners are more expensive to be able to project a 5G network, but they will be able to provide a far different set of solutions to their customers once their 5G network is running and the rewards start to roll in. 

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 of the variables you can control and the variables you cannot control. Good news! The fact that you’re here speaks volumes to your view of Helium and Helium miner profitability because you know it’s not a sure thing anymore. Helium mining can be very profitable, but it can be anywhere on the scale. It could be a great paycheck boost at the end of the week, or it could be so frustrating that you decide to try and sell your miner to another unfortunate soul. Let’s jump into how to make your best effort to make your Helium miner profitable. 

There are Variables Outside of Your Control

First things first, there are some things that you cannot control when it comes to Helium mining. A lot of the LoRaWAN (their first network) miners have pretty similar tech inside, so everyone is, more or less, on the same playing field. This is a refreshing take on crypto mining, since many past coins are mined based on pure processing power. The main focus of crypto mining is security, and the way that other coins verify that security is through an immense expenditure of energy. It came down to maths, and the more power you had doing the math, the faster it was solved, and the faster it was solved the faster you got rewarded. 

Alas, many other coins are now getting mined by big businesses that are able to devote a mind-boggling amount of resources to their mining, leaving scant to be mined by hobbyists. Helium is not like that! Helium hotspots are rewarded in two major ways. Helium’s network is built to transfer data. Each hotspot acts as a miniature cell tower that sends and receives data on the airways, functioning as a way for devices to communicate. The first way miners are rewarded is through that transfer of data. In simplified terms, the more data your miner transfers on Helium’s network, the more you mine. 

The second way that Helium miners actually mine HNT is through their proof of coverage. Almost every single Helium miner is in the hands of a person, either in their home or in a convenient location to optimize their Helium miner profitability. There is no contract that binds you to use that miner or keep it up and running, and a network where any node could shoot off at any time would not be a very reliable network. Their proof of coverage operates through hotspots periodically pinging one another to make sure they are up and running. Any time your hotspot pings, is pinged, or witnesses two hotspots get pinged, you mine a bit of HNT. Alas, that mining all depends on what is happening around you and it is not something you can effectively change. 

How to Make the Most of Your Helium Miner

Let's say you do buy a Helium miner. If you’ve got it, there are a few things you can do to make the most of your Helium miner regardless of the area in which you find yourself. The biggest one is to place it on high ground. Something as simple as an upstairs window or as elaborate as a completely outdoor setup. There are weatherproofed miners and outdoor antennas that can hook up to your device to extend its field. The devices, in essence, mine more the further their network is spread. If you can extend your field by, say, 20%, your rewards will increase because you are open to transport more data and take part in their proof of coverage events. Proof of coverage is very important to Helium, and they reward miners handsomely for taking part in their challenges.  

Steps to Take Before Investing in a Helium Miner

It’s important to understand how your Helium miner works before purchasing one. The cryptocoin mining procedures are all set in very firm stone in Helium’s whitepaper, but that is a pretty dry 20 page read. There are, fortunately, articles like this! We will cover the ins and outs of how your Helium miner profitability is likely to roll out. 

Look up Helium Miner Profitability in Your Area

There is a readily available database called Helium Explorer that shows every single hotspot on Helium’s network. Start your research by looking into the miners in your area and how they are performing. While your home will see slightly different rewards, it is likely that the miners in your area will all trend towards the same Helium miner profitability. This database shows you the amount of HNT each hotspot has mined in the last month, and checking that with the current price of HNT will give you your projected monthly income! 

You want to give yourself the best setup to maximize your earnings, as Helium Explorer does not rate their setups. It is possible that your miner will perform better than those around it if you take the time to get the best setup you can, but that will likely increase your startup cost, so there is some give and take there. Is spending an extra $300 worth doubling your HNT mining? Absolutely! Is it worth an extra few dollars a month? Probably not. Looking up the Helium miner profitability in your area is a good first step in determining if a Helium miner is right for you!

Reward Scaling Affects Your Earnings

Helium rewards come from proof of coverage and data transmission, but there is another sneaky variable that will determine how much your hotspot is rewarded for taking part in a proof of coverage challenge. There is a procedure called reward scaling that Helium implemented to incentivize a more spread out network. The short of it is that if your area is too densely populated by miners you will earn way less from proof of coverage. 

In the past, Helium divided up their proof of coverage rewards equally, but as some areas began to get too hotspot dense they decided to switch things up. The passive income that your miner receives as a reward from taking part in a proof of coverage challenge is not based on the number of witnesses, and the number of hotspots in your hex tile. There are documents called the Helium Improvement Proposals (HIPs) (specifically, the HIP15 and the HIP17) that outline these changes when they went into effect. The changes are summarized as follows:

• The more witnesses that a beaconer has, the more rewards it earns
• When there are more than four witnesses, each witness earns less from the challenge
• There can be no more than 25 witnesses in a single challenge, and those witnesses are chosen randomly from all the valid recipients in the area. 
• Each witness earns less if the area is deemed too dense, which is decided back at Helium HQ. 

Helium’s Proof of Coverage

Here’s a look at how Helium’s proof of coverage works. Helium’s network is all based on its miners. Hotspot miners form into a web of connectivity, much like the way that a centralized network, like T-Mobile, operates. There are three major operations that happen in Helium’s network, and the best Helium miners take part in all three. 

• Miners serve as challengers, issuing a proof of coverage challenger to another hotspot
• Miners are challenged, becoming beaconers. These targets are responsible for transmitting packets to the challenger and other hotspot witnesses. 
• Miners serve as witnesses, receiving the transmission from the beaconers and verifying that they are contributing to the network. 

Proof of Coverage, in short, is how Helium keeps track of the health and strength of its network. Since it operates off of hundreds of thousands of miners, the network is bound to fluctuate as individual units break down, weather messes with the signals, or people decide to take theirs down. Through these constant challenges, Helium is able to keep an up-to-date map of its coverage and the strength of its network. This is important for them as well as their customers who are planning to buy a miner.

Helium devotes a lot of its rewards to this constant data stream of its proof of coverage challenges, beaconers, and witnesses. Of the rewards that go to their miners, around 60% of them are related to the proof of coverage data. That’s a lot! It is understandable because the success of Helium’s wireless network is on the back of all of its miners. 

Is a Helium Miner Right for You?

We hope that you’ve gained some valuable knowledge from the meat of this article. There is a lot to know about Helium and there’s a lot to be excited about in their present and future. A network of privately owned hotspots turning into a worldwide web of communication? That’s crazy! And yet it is happening right before our eyes. 

When researching your Helium miner profitability, take heart in the fact that you are contributing to the success of this new and groundbreaking company. Over the years they have run into some trouble but, to some extent, it’s like a startup that is stepping into the unknown. We believe that, on top of checking out your Helium Miner Profitability, you should check Helium out and see if they are a company in which you want to invest. 

Investing in the Company

Purchasing a Helium hotspot is a lot like investing into a company. Through your HNT mining, when the company does well their crypto will likely go up, and when it does poorly their crypto will likely go down. The pricepoint of their cryptocurrency has a direct impact on your Helium miner profitability. Mining one token would mean very different things if their currency is at $4 or $40. Yes, it is exciting to look at and project your Helium miner profitability, but you are also setting up a node on their nationwide network that is contributing to their success as a business. Because they have the coverage they do, Helium’s been able to conduct business on their network and market it as a communications solution for businesses. 

Location, Location, Location

This is your last reminder that location is everything when determining your Helium miner profitability. If you are in the right area your miner could end up making far more than the average because it is taking part in a lot of challenges and transmitting a lot of data. The opposite could also be true. If you’re in the wrong area and it isn’t looking like your Helium miner will accomplish much, that could be your sign to stay out of the Helium game for the foreseeable future.

If your area is not ripe for mining you could take a risk and get one anyway! Because your miner will go up on Helium Explorer, the next bloke who is thinking of setting up in the area will see that you have one up and might be convinced to buy their own! 

Helium Mining in 5 Years

Another pro in the Helium miner profitability column is that there is a lot of potential for Helium to take off again. It is impossible to know what kind of company Helium will be in 5 years or even if they will still be in business. There is something exciting about being a part of a start up like this one and playing a role in its success. 

You can also, of course, cheer them on from the sidelines. Even if you don’t buy a Helium miner you can still keep tabs on their business and if the moment ever arrives you’ll be ready!