Port Forwarding for your Helium Hotspot

Overview

As with the introduction of Light Hotspots and with the conversion of Full Hotspots to Light hotspots, with updated Firmware, there is now no longer a need for network port 44158 TCP to be open on your wireless router or Ethernet switch. Light Hotspots only initiate outbound connections to Validators, and all consumer routers allow all outbound connections by default. As such, Light Hotspots only need to be connected to the Internet without any further configuration.

Checking if you have the latest Firmware

You can check which Firmware version you have by accessing the local diagnostics on your Nebra Hotspot. By default, they should all be updated automatically OTA. To access the local diagnostics you can see the guide here - https://helium.nebra.com/#/handy-guides/local-diagnostics.md

FAQ

My Hotspot is still showing as relayed

Since the upgrade to light hotspots you no longer need to forward port TCP 44158. If the hotspot is showing as relayed in the Helium Explorer it may take a couple of days to update.

My hotspot is not showing as 100% synchronised

Miners no longer need to be fully synced to 100% as long as they are above block height 1350604 (This will be removed from the diagnostics page shortly). Since the latest Firmware update, any hotspot past block 1350604 will now show 100% synchronised.

Will my current Hotspot become a Light hotspot?

Yes, you don’t need to do anything as this will take place automatically via an OTA update, your miner will still be able to earn when the transition has taken place.

Port forwarding with 4G / LTE connection

A lot of 4G / LTE cellular network providers use CGNAT for their data services and therefore your devices do not get a statically assigned public IP address. If this is the case with your provider, it will not be possible to get your miner out of relayed status. This may not cause an issue with the operation of your hotspot, but in certain circumstances, it can cause slower syncing and reduced earnings.

Some network providers offer static IP addresses as part of their offering (usually for an additional charge) and if your carrier offers this it is highly recommended to upgrade to a static IP.