Pi Supply/Nebra Launches New Indoor and Outdoor Hotspots to Support the Growth of the Helium Network

New Hotspots Mine $HNT Cryptocurrency and Provide Hundreds of Miles of Coverage for IoT Devices Using LongFi Technology

Today Nebra, the parent brand of Pi Supply and U.K.-based internet of things (IoT) startup officially approved by the Helium community, has launched new indoor and outdoor hotspots. The new hotspots mine $HNT and are fully compatible with the Helium Network. 

Helium’s wireless network based on LoRaWAN is best suited for low-power scenarios like sending data to and from sensors using low-cost radio waves, eliminating reliance on more costly networks. It’s fully peer to peer and leverages a robust network of hotspots connected to the network. With just 100 to 200 hotspots, the network can usually cover most cities. In return for hosting hotspots, hosts can earn $HNT for providing access to the LongFi network.

“Our new hotspots have the potential to bring the Helium Network to the masses,” said Nebra CEO Aaron Shaw. “Over the past six months, demand for $HNT miners has exploded. We’re excited to support this demand and bring our manufacturing and distribution expertise to the community by offering purpose-built indoor and outdoor miners. To show our support to the community, we’re also happy to announce that for every hotspot miner sold we’re giving $1 per device as a donation to the Decentralized Wireless Alliance.” 

Today there are over 15,000 hotspots currently online on the Helium Network. We aim to push that number higher considerably and provide more coverage around the globe by expanding access to hotspots. 

Under the Nebra brand, we have developed two product offerings both powered by the Raspberry Pi Compute Module. The first is an indoor HNT hotspot, an ideal solution for covering low coverage spots in dense areas such as cities. Our second product is an outdoor, weatherproof hotspot that opens up a plethora of opportunities, such as the ability to mount a hotspot to the side of buildings, houses and roofs. The outdoor hotspot is also an ideal solution for wider coverage applications across villages, towns and cities. 

We’re launching with EU868, US915, AU915, IN865, KR920, AS923, CN470 and RU864 frequencies, bringing much needed support for the Helium Network to currently underserved regions. 

The new HNT Hotspots will be available for pre-order from the 19th January at www.pi-supply.com, www.stakebox.org, and www.nebra.com, three of our brands. They will also be available through our international distributor network starting with Sparkfun, Parley Labs, Digi-Key and others. The miners are expected to be delivered in March/April 2021. We ship worldwide.