A Quick Guide to Get Started with Helium

How to Get Started with Helium?

Here is a quick guide to (1) connect and learn about Helium, (2) join the network, (3) invest in HNT or (4) build a business

1. To Connect and Learn

You can find more information about Helium on their official website and information website:
https://www.helium.com/
https://docs.helium.com/

Get Real-time chat and support:
· Helium Discord Server (extremely active): https://discord.com/invite/helium
· GitHub: https://github.com/helium
· Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeliumNetwork/
· Official Helium Telegram: https://t.me/helium_network

2. To Join the Helium Network and Get a Helium Hotspot

The Helium Network is growing very fast. Every day more and more hotspots join the network making the coverage better. To check Helium Network coverage: https://explorer.helium.com/.

The number of rewards you can get with your helium hotspot depends on your location. Therefore, it’s important for you to evaluate whether it makes financial sense to get one. It’s not ideal to have many hotspots very close (< 300 m) as the Helium network favours broad coverage over dense coverage. It is also not ideal for locating your hotspot in the sparse area because you won’t benefit from proof of coverage protocol rewards. However, there are workarounds in these situations. For optimal rewards, hotspots need to be ~300m away from each other. How to maximize your rewards you can read here: https://levelup.gitconnected.com/complete-guide-to-helium-mining-payouts-3ddaad5d1854
I also want to warn you that it takes more than five months to get your helium hotspot shipped to you from the time you purchase it due to current manufacturing shortages for many computer parts.

Costs of maintenance:
· Helium hotspot consumes little power, ~ 5W at peak, which is less than a standard LED light. The total power cost of running a Hotspot for a full year in US state on average will be around $5 per year.
· Helium hotspot needs to be connected to the internet. Today, Hotspots need 50 GB of data per month. Though, a software update is in development and should be released soon, which will support “Light Hotspots” that require only 1 GB of data per month. Hotspots need to be connected to the internet to be synchronized with the blockchain and to send/receive data packets to/from servers. Read more: https://www.helium.com/hosts

If you decide to get one, there is a variety of hotspots that you can choose from. The helium website lists all the approved hotspots: https://www.helium.com/mine#hotspots

Make sure you choose the miner with correct frequency coverage for your region because the frequency of operation may differ (North America vs EU market).

I ordered Bobcat miner because apart from other advantages, it also ships the fastest (20-28 weeks): https://www.bobcatminer.com/ (just heads up they accept payment in USDC only)

3. To Invest in HNT:

Here are a few central exchanges where you can buy or sell HNT: Binance, Binance.US, FTX, KuCoin, Crypto.com, Gate.io.
The price of HNT and other exchanges where it’s traded you can find here:
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/helium/markets/

Check my video on how to set up your Helium Wallet with Ledger:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiZ_ClPJsq-dsqBba30RAnQ

4. If you are a business or want to become one:

If you are building your IoT device or planning to build one, here is a quick summary of what you might want to know.
· Many companies are already incorporating helium network with their products:

· It has very good coverage in many places, and the coverage only increases as the network grows.
· Helium connects devices at a fraction of the cost of cellular without needing to deploy and maintain wireless infrastructure.
· You can calculate the cost per device here: https://www.helium.com/enterprise
· Here is the comparison between Helium Network and Telcom: