Are Helium Hotspots dangerous to be around? How much RF energy do they emit? Should you or your hosts be worried about the exposure levels? Let’s run through the facts, then you can make your own decision.
We’ll start with this: In general, Helium Hotspots rarely emit any RF. They’re built to receive signals far better than transmit them. That’s because the whole point of the network is to “listen” for really faint signals from sensors at long range.
Still, Helium Hotspots DO occasionally transmit out power in the form of a “beacon”. Beaconing usually happens less than 3 times per day. Sometimes you’ll have a banner day and it’ll beacon 5 times. That’s unusual, so I’ll use 3 or less when making the calculations below. Just to be clear:
A beacon is a single transmission witnessed by any Hotspot.
In this case you can ignore the “witnessed by a hotspot” aspect. For now we’re focusing solely on the power in a beacon, not whether or not it was received.
You can see how often your hotspot beacons just by checking on Helium Explorer. Here’s an example from one of mine on an unusually active day:
Yep, 2 beacons inside of 5 hours. We are bangin’! By the way, for those of you concerned with earning HNT, your “slice of the pie” for beaconing is relatively low, so don’t worry about “not beaconing enough”. Once a day is fine.
Back to RF exposure and power! Helium uses LoRa as a radio protocol, and what we call a “beacon” is technically a “chirp”. Let’s dig a little deeper on that. From Helium’s blog:
LoRa uses what is known as a “chirp” protocol and spreading factors (SF) are the duration of the “chirp”. Typically you’re looking at a range of SF7 to SF12 where the 7 is the shortest time on air. Each step up doubles the time on air to transmit the same amount of data and increases the range. Due to local restrictions, we are limited by max payload sizes to certain spreading factors, usually SF8 and SF9 for most packets.
How long does an SF8 or SF9 (or even an SF 12) chirp last? Let’s take a look at this table from Semtech (the owner of LoRa technology). Here’s a screenshot:
There are 1,000 milliseconds (ms) in a second, so for all chirps, we’re looking at under a second of time that RF is being emitted.
Cool, so now we have a time established: Less than one second per beacon.
The next (obvious) question is: How strong are these beacons?
For those of you who’ve read the Cable Loss & EIRP post, you’ll remember that the most powerful hotspots (American hotspots) blast out a massive 27 dBm. I’m joking about the massive part. dBm stands for Decibel MilliWatts, and 27 is about half a watt. You can do this calculation yourself over at DigiKey’s website. I’ll make it easy and just paste it in here:
I can hear you say it: “Ok Nik, but what about when someone uses a MAXIMUM GAIN! (said in my best monster truck voice) antenna? In the US, the legal max antenna gain we can use is 9 dBi.
27 dBm + 9 dBi = 36 dBm. So, how many watts is that? Let’s cruise back to DigiKey’s calculator and see.
Holy smokes, almost 4 watts! That’s enough to fry a… Wait a second. How much power is 4 watts? Is there anything else we might possibly use for comparison?
Yep, you guessed it. Cell phones. Cell phones in general have 2 “levels” of power they emit: .6 watts, and 3 watts. Typically, most people use their cell phones while holding them within 2 feet of their face. If you have long-ass gibbon arms, maybe you can get it 3 feet away from your face. You can reduce your exposure by growing your arms or just following common sense guidelines.
When you are talking on a phone is when it emits the most power; it has to transmit your voice. At that point, you are holding a device to your head for more than a second (if watching people in public is any indication, it’s more like non-stop) that is emitting up to 3 watts.
Let’s go back to the Helium Hotspot one last time and just think about where it’s placed. While I recommend always placing it outside (NOT for RF exposure reasons, but to provide the best coverage), some people can’ t do that due to HOA or other building restrictions. So let’s assume worst case: In your house.
If it’s in your house, it’s unlikely that you hold your Helium Hotspot to your head. It’s probably on a table or by a window. Let’s say it’s reasonable to be at least 3 feet away from the antenna at all times. We’ll do a quick calculation check on that distance with the MAXIMUM POWER antenna to see what you’re being exposed to, using HintLink’s RF Exposure Calculator. By the way, a 9 dBi omni antenna (the maximum gain you can legally use) is about 4 feet long. Most people don’t like the way a 4′ long fiberglass pole looks inside the house.
Since I’ll assume that you’re not working in a Controlled Environment (think RF labs, or near super high RF emitters like a cell tower site), we’ll calculate the exposure based on the max limits you’d encounter in your ordinary life. In that case, (ah, f*ck it, I’ll make this huge because this is my final answer.)
A Helium Hotspot emits .07% of the Maximum Permissible Exposure to RF devices. It does that for less than a second, less than 4 times per day.
I do know that some people are super sensitive to RF. If that’s you, it may not be the best idea to participate in the building the world’s largest wireless network. For the rest of ya, go deeper if you want, but after looking into it, this seems like enough for me to say that the RF being emitted from a Helium Hotspot is not something I’m going to worry about.
If you need more help with understanding Helium, whether you have antenna questions, want help with optimization, or just want to talk through the Helium ecosystem and how you can fit in, take a look at joining the Gristle Crüe.
We'll start with this: In general, Helium Hotspots rarely emit any RF. They're built to receive signals far better than transmit them. That's because the whole point of the network is to “listen” for really faint signals from sensors at long range.
Helium-enabled LoRaWAN devices are hardware-secured to protect the traffic from the utilized spectrum. This means the security is built-in since devices using the network have AES private key encryption at the chip level.
The Helium Hotspot enables anyone to own and operate a wireless network for low-power Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The Helium Hotspot provides hundreds of square miles of connectivity and can transmit data at a fraction of the cost of a cellular network.
Hotspots should not be deployed too close to one another. It's best to provide a minimum distance of 300 to 500 meters between Hotspots. You typically encounter a more substantial density in cities and a weaker density in rural environments.
The majority of Helium Hotspot miners are low-power devices that use low levels of energy. They mostly require around 5W to connect to the internet, which converts to 0.12kWh or 3.6kWh per month.
At the start, Hotspots are intended to self-beacon every 6 hours, though this time window may change as Oracled PoC is improved. In addition, the Beacon rate includes a "jitter" component to offset the Beacon timing across Hotspots on the Network to avoid overloading the Oracles with large data spikes.
It can also be dangerous when a hacker is the one with the host device, using a mobile hotspot to perform W-Fi phishing. A hacker could also create a hotspot that has the same or a similar name to an actual Wi-Fi hotspot, usually in a public place.
Overall, Helium (HNT) mining in 2023 is expected to be a profitable venture for those who are willing to invest in the necessary equipment and have access to an optimal location.
Helium miners require internet connectivity to communicate with Helium servers for Proof-of-Coverage (PoC) and connect the low-cost LoRaWAN access points to transfer data.
Absolutely ! I consider myself a hobbyist and my miner earns approximately . 30 HNT per day as I have a better than average location . I continue to mine in a bear market because eventually the bear will become a bull market and crypto prices across the board will rise once again.
A good rule of thumb to start approaching 90% of optimum earnings is at least 20′ above your roof and surrounding roofs. That antenna is on top of a 23′ pole on top of a 15′ high roof in suburban San Diego. Anecdotal reports show that even a *1 meter* elevation difference can noticeably affect earnings.
The majority of Helium Hotspot miners are low-power devices that use low levels of energy. They mostly require around 5W to connect to the internet, which converts to 0.12kWh or 3.6kWh per month.
However, within peak time, Helium Hotspot mining devices might consume up to 12W (or 0.288 kWh), which converts to almost 8.64kWh per month. Taking the average $0.137 electricity price of the United States, this would only cost around $1.20 per month.
The only way to counteract the effects of a lower transmit scale is to improve your antenna setup (outdoors, higher gain, higher elevation) so it can witness beacons of Hotspots further away with potentially higher transmit scales. This ensures a low-scaled Hotspot can continue to earn at an optimal level.
In very simple terms, RSSI measures the strength of the radio signal you're receiving. In RSSI measurements, the larger the negative number, the weaker the signal. -130 is weaker than -100. In general, in the land of Helium, you want your RSSI to be between -82 and -134.
All maintenance on your Helium hotspot requires 3-5 days for it to adjust and get used to it, which means over-maintaining the hotspot is to have 3-5 days of window period that it can not earn any rewards for you!
Cell phones, hotspots and WiFi operate at very low frequencies compared to the known dangerous frequencies of radiation. The difference is between ionizing radiation, such as x-rays, and non-ionizing radiation, such as radio frequencies.
Can Someone See My Internet History On Their WIFI? Yes. The WiFi owner has access to the admin panel from the WiFi router, meaning they can see the browsing information performed on their WiFi network. In addition, routers see log information, including when and what you did on your computer.
Toxic hotspots are locations where emissions from specific sources such as water or air pollution may expose local populations to elevated health risks, such as cancer. These emissions contribute to cumulative health risks of emissions from other sources nearby.
Yes, it is possible that Helium can reach $1000 but only in a distanced future, after 2030. The global helium market is forecasted to reach US$20.17 billion in 2026, growing at a CAGR of 13% during the period spanning from 2022 to 2026. Growth in the global helium market was supported by ...
Helium Console users are capped at ONE (1) Organization and 10 devices for their account. If your account as of March 31, 2022 exceeds this cap, you can continue using Helium Console with those existing devices and Orgs for 12 calendar months, but will not be able to add additional devices and Orgs.
It is usual for the device to enter offline or inactive status because the data is not transmitted from the validator to the hotspot. In this scenario, please kindly pay attention to the Helium official website to determine whether there has been a version update or if any bugs have been fixed.
Bitcoin mining is still profitable in 2023. Bitcoin miners are currently mining around $20 million worth of Bitcoin per day. That's $600 million per month. A mining machine costs $2,000-$20,000, making it difficult for anyone but professional miners to mine.
Contributors to the helium ecosystem earn HNT by mining and building the coverage for The People's Network using a compatible hotspot. Depending on your location, the amount of HNT you earn may vary. In February 2022, a participant claimed that he was able to earn more than $400 per month.
The Helium Network solves the connectivity problem for Internet of Things (IoT) devices through Hotspots which provide miles of wireless network coverage for IoT devices that use the network.
Helium (HNT) is expected to have a strong performance in 2023 due to ongoing improvements in the Helium network. According to bullish predictions, the price of HNT could reach as high as $12.169 by the end of the year. However, bearish predictions suggest a lower price point of $1.47.
The cost of a Helium miner will depend on the type of miner you choose. Some miners can be purchased for as little as $200, while others can cost upward of $1000.
The general rule of thumb is anything under 25 feet you are okay using LMR-200 cable, but for anything over 25 feet you will want to use an LMR-400 cable because it has lower attenuation over long runs.
A hotspot will earn the most if it can Witness (has a clear Line of Sight to) many other high transmit reward scale (.8 or better) hotspots. This system of rewards is called Proof of Coverage, or PoC.
Walls and windows can decrease or block your signal. It's best to have the hotspot mounted high, with a clear line of sight. Long cable length can severly effect antenna performance.
You can operate multiple Helium miners, as long as they aren't in the same place – if they are too close to one another, their earning capabilities are severely limited. You want them to be 300 feet or more apart.
Absolutely ! I consider myself a hobbyist and my miner earns approximately . 30 HNT per day as I have a better than average location . I continue to mine in a bear market because eventually the bear will become a bull market and crypto prices across the board will rise once again.
Keep your antenna cable as short as possible if you want maximum earnings. GIVE YOUR ANTENNA 20-30′ OF RUNWAY — LoRa does best if you give it room to breathe. Do NOT put your antenna next to a house, building, or other solid obstacle (unless you know what you're doing and have a very good reason to.)
A good rule of thumb to start approaching 90% of optimum earnings is at least 20′ above your roof and surrounding roofs. That antenna is on top of a 23′ pole on top of a 15′ high roof in suburban San Diego. Anecdotal reports show that even a *1 meter* elevation difference can noticeably affect earnings.
Before launching the Miner, you will want to configure ports on your network to forward two ports: 44158/TCP: the Miner communicates to other Miners over this port. The networking logic knows how to get around a lack of forwarding here, but you will get better performance by forwarding the port.
Which ports should be open for Helium Miner? The Helium Miner requires port 44158 to be open. You can do this by opening your router's configuration page and forwarding port 44158 to the IP address of your Helium Miner.
Not necessarily, however it depends on your current internet speed. If your current data plan is already pushed to the maximum, by having a couple TV's running Netflix simultaneously while few other devices are connected to WiFi then adding a Helium miner might slow it down drastically.
To mine Helium at home, you need to have the following equipment:A Helium Hotspot: This is the main hardware device you will use to mine Helium. It is a small, low-power, wireless device connected to your home network. A SIM card: The Helium Hotspot requires a cellular data connection to access the Helium network.
Introduction: My name is Velia Krajcik, I am a handsome, clean, lucky, gleaming, magnificent, proud, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
