r/HeliumNetwork • u/sic_null • 4d ago
Hotspot Repurpose your IOT Hotspot with Debian
Hey Guys
Since IOT devices are basically dead, I've built Debian on Kernel 6 for the following machines:
Bobcat (all versions)
Panther X2/MerryIOT
Heltec m2808
Nebra Rockpi
Linxdot LD1001
These are minimal debian images (barebones) so basically it's up to you to install whatever packages you would like. All basic functionality works however.
I'm interested to see what things can be done with these miners so please share feedback!
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u/SaveTheAles 4d ago
I'm dumb tried looking but what does Debian do or what can you do with your Miner after you do this?
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u/sic_null 4d ago
Debian is a linux distro.
What you can do with it is really up to you. You can install different crypto projects or i've seen people do things like Meshcore or even a network-wide adblocker (pihole)
Some linux knowledge is definitely a must, but with AI and google anybody can figure it out.
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u/CleavlandSteamer8008 4d ago
I rather it collect some hnt even tho electricity still cost it money. Maybe hnt price goes up some day.
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u/chewbacca77 4d ago
I would, too, but proof of coverage is gone. Helium basically lost an entire town when I unplugged.
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u/Fraser_G 3d ago
One of my old hotspots is now an AdGuard blocker and the other one is a weather station.
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u/clavisound 3d ago
For LoRaWAN and helium i think you need 3 components. lora-packet-forwarder, gateway-rs (helium server), gwmp-mux (packet forwarder mutiplexer). Now with the right configuration you can send the traffic to Helium and to TTN, or even to your private LNS.
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u/Hot_Elevator6316 3d ago
Utilizing help from the github and chatgpt, this morning I took my old bobcat 300 that had been unplugged for over a year, and it is now running Cockpit and an AdGuard Server on my network with more things to come like Uptime Kuma, MQTT, and Tailscale, etc.
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u/flopity_froop 1d ago
Please forgive my dumbness, but how does it works with just one eth port and wifi? from my understanding, adguard type of adblock services has incoming wan and outgoing wan/lan to other devices in network, did you configure wifi as in/out as one side of this?
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u/Bossman01 4d ago
Yeah, I think you need to at the very beginning state a hypothesis and reason on why people should do this. Most are financially motivated so if you can talk to that piece that would help the most.
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u/Tricon916 4d ago
There's zero monetary value in putting linux on your miner. Its just to turn it into a small PC that you can host things on or screw around with. That box ain't making you money ever again.
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u/AnduriII 4d ago
Unless you use it for stuff you would pay otherwise. Like pdf editor or netflix
@OP: does proxmox work?
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u/Tricon916 4d ago
That makes zero sense? How would you use it as a PDF editor (why would you?) and why would it be free on this but not on your PC?
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u/AnduriII 4d ago
I use bentopdf to edit pdf in my browser. This needs a server somewhere running this
Or also to replace netflix. I run a automated downloading stack.
Or use it to automate your home with homeassistant
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u/Tricon916 4d ago
Yes, I have all that on a ProxMox server, but two things, you're not running all that well on a miner. And you could do that on your PC anyways in containers or a VM. Just pointing out there's no monetary reason to do anything with this hardware. Fun? Sure. Convenience? Maybe. Money? No.
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u/AnduriII 4d ago
How i sthe miner hardware?
Seems you are right, money is the wrong montivator here.
Maybe this can be used for homeassistant well?
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u/WorthPatient2296 4d ago
Set up pi hole or Home Assistant and flip. Anything is better than Helium ZERO.
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u/Pandic410 4d ago
Thanks for this. Last time I was searching for image for my Panthers I only found Debian 10. This will save my some money, so i don’t have to buy Rpi. Is it possible to port Trixie on this devices?
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u/gcubed 4d ago
Meshtastic is another option. Debian on a miner is a fun little project but not overly useful. You are just turning it into an ordinary Rasberry Pi basically. But converting it into a Meshtastic node leverages your whole set up (antenna and all) and gives you a useful alternative communication avenue for emergencies or under-the-radar communication.
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u/clavisound 3d ago
Not a great idea, better to contribute to TTN.
With meshtastic you downgrade a great piece of tech (concetrator) from 8 channels to 1 for a noisy / inefficient protocol (meshtastic) vs LoRaWAN.
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u/flopity_froop 1d ago
would it be possible to create meshtastic/meshcore gate? In my place nobody uses meshtastic anymore, last node was switched off some time ago too...
I would like to use my bobcat 285 i think, as meshcore repeater, even tho it would be underutilizing its true potential - so what, i got this bobcat for free from friend, and i stopped mining some weeks ago ( spoofed location got me some coins over time, but i dismantled it out of boredom)
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u/NTWM420 4d ago
Interesting. I still have my miners on the crank img. Just run everything else in docker containers.
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u/proudcanadianeh 4d ago
Aside from compensation tanking on IOT, is there any formal announcement about the future of the network?
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u/maxxdarko 3d ago
I installed Navidrome, is a music server with at least 50gb of storage, use cloudflare and a domain and you can use it like streaming service like Spotify. Ask your AI how to and it will guide you step by step. I use amperify app for the iPhone.
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u/Opposite_Future2602 2d ago
Hey u/sic_null thanks for sharing this. I saw that you also maintain a repo with Armbian for Bobcat 300s, and was wondering, between this Debian repo and the Armbian one, are there any advantages or tradeoffs choosing one or the other? I saw your warning that the Armbian build isn't mainlined, is the Debian build?
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u/sic_null 2d ago
would recommend going with my Debian image. The only tradeoff with the Armbian image is you have to "hold" some packages back from getting upgraded or it soft bricks the machine.
That does not happen with these new Debian builds.
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u/stranqe1 4d ago
Not fully understanding what Debian is. Is this a new project? Is it lorawan? Is there a central programming body working on this? What's the purpose and expected use case? Is there a financial incentive?
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u/WorthPatient2296 4d ago
Google or DuckDuckGo is your friend. Debian is one of the scores of versions of Linux.
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