Analysis of 4 Major Helium Hotspot Providers — JAG Industrials vs Hositfy vs Meshly vs iHub
Top 4 Companies Partnering with Hosts to Distribute Helium Hotspots
Quick Recap of the Helium Network and Helium Hotspots
If you haven’t read our previous articles about the Helium Network, be sure to check them out here. If you’re not in the mood to do any additional research, don’t fret. Let’s go over a quick recap of what the Helium Network is and how Helium Hotspots work within it.
In its current iteration, the Helium Network (aka “The People’s Network) is a LoRaWAN (low-power wide-area network) that’s fully decentralized and built on a blockchain. Traditional wireless communication networks are centrally structured and rely on powerful cell towers and legacy infrastructure to send information to and from devices. The telecom companies that manage these networks are in full control over the hardware that supports them. On the other hand, the Helium Network relies on individually managed hotspots that are placed within homes or buildings.
These devices are about the size of a typical wifi router and basically act as small cell towers that communicate to each other through radio waves while uploading all of their data onto the Helium blockchain. Each Helium Hotspot can earn HNT (Helium’s native cryptocurrency token) for performing tasks while active on the network.
Without getting too in-depth here, you can essentially think of the Helium Network infrastructure as being composed of thousands of miniature wireless communication hubs that are housed and managed by individuals. HNT is automatically transferred to the wallets of Helium Hotspot owners whenever their devices complete tasks on the network. These individuals are incentivized to maintain their hotspots by receiving those ongoing HNT payouts.
JAG vs Meshly vs Hostify vs iHub — Which Helium Hotspot Partner Should You Go With?
If you’re hoping to join the Helium Network revolution without the help of a hardware provider, you’re looking at an average cost of $600+ for a hotspot with a 5–6 month waitlist period as of January 2022. The other option is to register with one of the companies listed above to expedite the process and hedge your bets against the unknown. The downside is that you’ll be sharing a portion of your HNT rewards with the provider you choose. In exchange for that, you’ll get to “cut the line” and start testing out your potential HNT earnings with minimal or zero upfront investment. Before you choose a hotspot provider you’ll want to assess the viability of your location. Hotspotty.net provides the fullest tool set for evaluating your earnings potential regardless of manufacturer or partner.
Each of these four companies has taken the route of partnering with “hosts” to deliver Helium Hotspots for free in exchange for a commission on their HNT earnings. By “hosts”, we mean the individuals who sign up with JAG, Meshly, Hostify, or iHub to receive a free hotspot to place in their residence(s) or building(s). These companies provide the difficult-to-get and relatively pricey hardware, and in return, the hosts give up some of the HNT that they will earn.
While all four of these providers offer very similar partnerships, they each have certain strengths and weaknesses that we’ll go into detail below. The main features we’ll be looking at are:
- Types of Helium Hotspot Devices That Are Provided
- Commission/Fee Structure For Each Partnership
- Plans for Helium’s New 5G Network
1. Types of Helium Hotspot Devices That Are Provided
To be clear, Helium no longer manufactures the devices that operate their network. They had initially released a single run of hotpots to get the ball rolling and then eventually passed the baton. Now, they stick to blockchain development and network utilization/operations while they relegate the hotspot creation to third-party vendors. At the time of writing this, there are 13 officially approved Helium Hotspot manufacturers for their LoRaWAN network (plus 1 for their new 5G network).
Not all Helium Hotspot devices are created equal. We’re not going to do a full analysis of all hotspot options, but we will mention a couple of important factors.
First, almost all of those 13 approved Helium Hotspot manufacturers are either out of stock (back-ordered for 4–6 months) or still in development. This tremendous supply shortage is caused by a lack of availability of Helium-integrated chips (likely due to the pandemic) and a miscalculation of the now exponentially increasing demand for Helium Hotspots around the globe.
Second, most of these hotspot manufacturers are providing the same base-level models that are designed for indoor use and come with a 2–3 dBi antenna. Unfortunately, placing your device inside and using the out-of-the-box antenna might not be the best call for your particular situation. In most cases, the higher you can place your hotspot and the clearer you can make its line of sight, the more opportunity you’ll have to earn HNT. That means that you’ll more than likely want to purchase outdoor enclosures, higher dBi antennas, and other accessories for optimizing your device placement.
So Which Helium Hotspots (and Upgrades) Do These Four Providers Offer?
In short, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. As far as we can tell, all four providers are currently equipped with at least one type of hotspot. iHub lists RAK Wireless, Nebra, CalChip, and Bobcat on their site, but they don’t get into specifics about which device you will receive. They also don’t mention anything about providing additional upgrades or attachments. JAG primarily offers RAK Wireless at the moment, although they have mentioned that their device roster is set to expand in the coming months. JAG has also confirmed that they will be providing device attachments for upgrading your antenna, coaxial cables, outdoor enclosures, and more that will be available for purchase directly through their site.
Hostify and Meshly are much more ambiguous about the types of hotspots that they provide. Both companies claim to take the situation of your home or building into account before they determine which hotspot to deliver. Most likely, they’ll provide whichever hotspot they have the most inventory of at the time. Quite possibly, they’ll provide “high-value” hosts with better quality hotspots and “lower-value” hosts with slightly lesser options.
Either way, one of the major benefits of partnering with JAG, Meshly, Hostify, or iHub is that they all have a stockpile of pre-registered devices (of varying types) that are ready to go. That means you have an opportunity to “cut in line” and get a device for free (or with minimal cost) when you partner with one of them. While we can’t say for certain what the inventory looks like for each of these companies, we do know that all four claim to be in stock and ready to deliver as soon as your application is approved.
2. Commission/Fee Structure For Each Partnership
When you apply to “host” a Helium Hotspot with one of these companies, you don’t actually become the “owner” of the device. Instead, they essentially lease space in your home or building to place the device and then pay you a portion of the HNT earnings in exchange. In some ways, the Helium Hotspot is acting as a tenant and you’re its de facto landlord.
Whichever way you conceptualize it, the important thing to note here is that you won’t be earning 100% of the HNT that your hotspot is rewarded. That’s why it’s crucial to understand the commission/fee structure that each of these potential partners is offering.
JAG has a pretty straightforward contract that provides you (aka ‘the host) with 20% of the HNT earned by your hotspot on a monthly cadence. They have a live dashboard for reporting earnings where you can request payouts in the form of HNT, ETH, BTC, and USD without any conversion fees. You’ll receive the device, installation, and customer support for free. There are no shipping costs, commitments, or upfront investments required. And as long as you don’t damage the device, you can decide to return it to them with free shipping and cancel your contract whenever you’d like, free of charge.
Meshly also provides “the host” with 20% of the HNT earned each month. Like JAG, they’ll ship and install the device for free. While their site doesn’t offer explicit contract details, it appears as though they don’t lock hosts into long-term commitments or hidden fees.
Hostify is somewhat of the oddball in this category. They state that their hosts will earn a range of $35-$50 per month depending on their device performance. If that’s true, it means Hostify is capping all earnings at $50 regardless of how much HNT is actually earned by each hotspot. On top of that, they’re also unclear about contract commitments and the costs of installation or support.
iHub states that “hosts” have the potential to earn up to 25% of the HNT their devices generate. For the first 90 days, iHub “hosts” will earn 15% regardless of their situation. After 90 days, that 15% can potentially be increased to 25%, although they’re unclear about what qualifications are required for that earnings boost. Several review sites have even questioned the validity of these payout claims altogether. Fortunately, they do clearly note that there are no long-term commitments and that “hosts” can terminate their contract at any time.
3. Plans for Helium’s New 5G Network
In a previous post, we detailed Helium’s plans for their new 5G network. To give a brief overview, they are using the same crypto-incentivized implementation strategy that they enacted for their current LoRaWAN network. The only difference is that the hotspots involved will need to be 5G-enabled. The amount of HNT that will be rewarded and the energy cost of hosting a 5G hotspot are still mostly undetermined, but we expect that the first people onboarded will experience a fairly healthy ROI.
That being said, it makes sense to choose a Helium Hotspot provider that has legitimate plans for the upcoming 5G revolution. At the time of writing, FreedomFi is the only officially approved 5G-enabled Helium Hotspot manufacturer. And if the current shortage of LoRaWAN devices is any indicator, we suspect that getting a FreedomFi Helium Hotspot on your own is going to be exceptionally difficult and cost upwards of $5k.
Helium just officially launched its 5G network last month. So, it makes sense that all four providers are likely scrambling to get some messaging out about their ability to provide FreedomFi 5G devices to host applicants. Still, JAG is the only provider that has a detailed analysis of the new Helium 5G infrastructure on their site. They’re also the only potential partner that’s already accepting applications to receive a 5G hotspot once they become available.
TLDR;
Didn’t have time to read this article. No worries! Here are the highlights:
- All four companies offer multiple types of Helium Hotspot devices. JAG is primarily offering RAK Wireless at the moment and plans to extend its line of hotspots in the near future. iHub lists RAK Wireless, Nebra, CalChip, and Bobcat on their site, but they don’t specify which hotspot you’ll receive. Meshly and Hostify are also ambiguous about which hotspots they will provide to each individual host. JAG is the only provider that has confirmed plans to start offering device upgrades/attachments directly through their site.
- Both JAG and Meshly offer similar contracts that payout 20% of monthly HNT earnings to their hotspot hosts. On the other hand, Hostify only pays within a range of $35-$50/month regardless of how much HNT your hotspot earned. iHub pays 15% for the first 90 days and then up to 25% thereafter.
- JAG appears to be the most prepared for the new Helium 5G network. They’re currently accepting applications for 5G-enabled Helium Hotspots manufactured by FreedomFi. And while we assume Meshly, Hostify, and iHub all have plans for the Helium 5G revolution, they currently don’t have any information about it on their sites.
Which exchange to trade and manage your HNT? To move your funds from JAG, Meshly, Hostify or iHUB you will need a deposit address from your Helium Wallet located on one of the below crypto exchanges.
- Binance U.S., the worlds largest exchange was one of the first to list the HNT token.
- Crypto.com, has an easy to use mobile app that trades hundreds of thousands of HNT daily.
- Kucoin, the fifth largest exchange by volume offers access to many of top tokens along with more obscure, newer tokens to hit the market.
- FTX U.S., a Bahamian-based (formerly U.S.) based exchange averaging $10 billion in daily trades.
- Coinbase; while Helium has registered for their HNT token to be listed with on its trading platform, it is still waiting for approval. We should see a listing in early 2022.
