Topic: BITMAIN AntRouter R1: 1st wireless networking device with bitcoin mining chip - page 15. (Read 77708 times)

Ok ill admit i might have been a bit unfair since i don't have one, and after stepping back and taking a wider look i was a bit harsh. so let me regret my rash comment and try to rephrase.  I think the mining controller isn't useful because There are a lot of miners out there.  Now i cant blame them for encouraging their own products, but it seems unwise to not include wider range of support, even if it's just the U1 and 2.  I also find advertising it locked in solo mode (from what i have seen) a bad move because for a product that is (i'm assuming) marketed towards people just starting, and many of them might not be willing to configure it.  It seems some people seem to want a device that can be plunged in and left, which doesn't exist yet.  Although, most of these issues can be fixed with research and tinkering, and pose no problem to a more experienced miner.  As for the unfinished features, i have to give them props for trying to fit as much as they can, like more companies should.  But it seems that some of these things ,like the mining controller could have been improved from a bit more work.  This miner might work for other people, but for me it wouldn't be worth it.  I enjoy tinkering with my miners, and ill keep trying to find a reason to water cool them, even if it's just for the coolness factor.  I find this worth the pocket change i lose a year.  But i have no idea what i'm talking about, i'm just some guy messing around trying to put water blocks on things that already run cold.  

Considering antpage I think there is a decent amount of them in here who have not used them.   Just is a very limited group.   

I think it was a neat idea a little weak as far as internal mining chip.... but a nice new toy.  Add crazyguy custom firmware and 3 U3's it's become a useful lotto device for me.   So I have used it and I do like it.

But I can see why they would focus on S7 vs tons of little miners.  Not near as  much money here on sales I would guess I don't have any sales numbers on profit but S7 compared to R1 I'm guessing a huge difference in profit margins.

So you think it is ridiculous? Do you own one, have you used one? Yes it comes set to Antpool but if you read the thread you will see several ways of unlocking it and pointing it wherever you want.

Why does the mining Controller Suck & seem unfinished, from what I have seen it works with no problems, please explain what you mean?

What is wrong with cramming a lot of functionality into a device, most people would regard that as a benefit? Then on the one hand you are criticising how much has been crammed in and then in the next breath bemoaning the fact that it only supports a U3?

Seems a bit rich that you prefer a loss making U2 over a device that as well as it's many other features can actually mine profitably.


Rich

I feel like we need miners like this, just for fun.  Like with some USB asic miners you know that you will be losing money from the start, BUT WHO CARES!  For me bitcoin mining isn't about making thousands or becoming rich.  Its more about the fun of it, being able to say you mine bitcoin, and just messing around with the things.

Although something like this is a bit ridiculous.  Its locked into solo mode, the mining controller sucks, and seems unfinished.  They tried to cram too much into this little thing, and seriously, it only supports the U3.  Maybe i would consider this later in time when it has been refined. But for now, ill stick to losing money with my U2.

I have about a Dozen AntRouter R1 in Stock / Brand New Factory Sealed for Anyone Looking for 1 to play with on my website.

My view is that you need Miners to make money. S1, S3, S5, S7 etc and Miners to play with, learning, experimenting, spreading the word, U1, U2, U3 etc. I think that the U3, aided and abetted by a MOQ and it's frequent Zombies was a mistake. It does not make any real money but attempted unnecessarily to be a step up from the U2.

I think at the "Play" end that the R1 is a great product and packs a lot of punch for the money. It's a worthy successor to the U series, and some good decision making by Bitmain in the specification.

Fully integrated PSU & Controller, Ethernet & Wireless, works as a Router / Bridge / Charger. Based on OpenWrt, Firmware easily upgraded. No PC or RPi needed, familiar web interface and as such a good learning tool if you are going to progress to an S Series.

It's got the added attraction of being a Lotto device, although I urge Bitmain to significantly improve the Antrouter Web Page Stats with more meaningful / fun data and to deliver on the Points side of things. As I have said a couple of times I look forward to an R2 with BM1385?

I do think, from a home POV there is a gap between the R Series & S Series, however that is not a 4 Chip U3 style device, which neither makes money or is more fun than an R1. It's at least a single S7 board 45 Chip style device.


Rich

Would you really buy a U4?  I wouldn't, not after what a mess the U3 was/has been.  It's only now that I have the R1 controlling it that I have started to enjoy using it, I don't think I would trust another pod usb miner from Bitmain.

Now if they develop a U4/U5 with a built in controller a la the R1 I may be interested, but a stand alone U3 update?  No thank you.

That is not a bad thing.  You can get U3's right now from resellers like crazyguy.   You had a high MOQ needed to buy  U3's from bitmain.

I think we can read into that no more U3's... which hopefully means one day U4's possibly.. we can hope at least.

they seem to be putting all their effort into the S7 at the moment. I got a reply from them and they said R1 will be back just no exact date at the moment. The U3 will not be back

Makes sense to put all the effort into S7, which with all the versions and batches has obviously been stretching them.. The next 6 Months before the halving are very important for everyone and with SP50 being deployed, whatever Bitfury is doing, plus Avalon shipping and BW hopefully in the next Month Bitmain is no longer the only game in Town.

Good to hear the R1 will be back I think it's a great entry level / learning product and with it's wireless & bridging capability it's quite a flexible device. To be honest there is no place for a U3 now that we have R1. Here's hoping they have an R2 with the BM1385 chip in design?


Rich

they seem to be putting all their effort into the S7 at the moment. I got a reply from them and they said R1 will be back just no exact date at the moment. The U3 will not be back

maybe they figured out that giving you points for mining could be abused.. there is nothing keeping you from throwing more hash on the solo pool and getting enough points to get some free stuff.

Oh I thought that would be the Points, but have usually been mining so had not seen it drop. Also I guess it's way too high for 1 point/GHz/H?

I raised a ticket asking the question but will be surprised if I get an answer.


Rich

i wondered about that too.. your mining score drops down when you dont mine. so its not that..

I have eventually got the R1 so that it Mines & is accesible via wireless... I seem now not to have access on the Ethernet but that is not a problem and not sure if it's a coincidence but the Power consumption has now dropped to 6.5W running at 225MHz which is as high as I can go with zero errors. Hash is 12.38GHs giving 0.525J/GH. Temperature on the case stable at a nice warm 45C.

Has anyone heard any more from Bitmain about this statement you get on the Status Screen?




Rich

Ok, I figured out how to see through the R1 to the U3 api.  You have to open port 4029 in the R1 lua interface under Network -> Firewall -> Traffic Rules.  There is already a rule existing for port 4028 (the R1 api port), so just make the same entry for port 4029 and you can access the U3 api.

Hmm, well I'll look into the processes that are running and see what's what, thanks for the tips.

Edit, ok, I found the process and it does appear that port 4029 is the correct port, but CryptoGlance does not talk to the U3.  Any other ideas?



I restarted the R1 and now the U3 isn't hashing at all.  Hmm...

it is it.. check the running processes..
you should see -api-network -api-listen and -api-port 4029

Nope, that didn't do it, still shows it as "off line".  I tried 4027 and 4030, too.  No other ip addresses show on my router so it must be behind the R1 somewhere.

its the same as cgminer api but its set to use 4029 instead of 4028.

Can anyone tell me how to access the U3 api when it is connected to the R1?  I use CryptoGlance to monitor my miners and it needs an IP address and port to get the api stuff to display stats.  The only IP I have is the R1 and CryptoGlance sees it just fine, but how do I get it to see the U3?  When my U3 was hooked up to my computer I could assign it a port via the command line, but there does not appear to be anyway to do that with the R1.