NerdMiner pool: address, port and how to change it

The pool address of a NerdMiner has two parts: the host, preset to public-pool.io, and the port, preset to 21496. There is no account and no pool password; the Bitcoin address you enter is the worker the pool pays. At around 250 KH/s a NerdMiner earns nothing in a pay-per-share pool, so it mines in a solo pool: all or nothing, with the full block reward as the prize. The fields are entered once on the setup page of the miner, as shown in step 4 of the NerdMiner setup guide.

Pool address format

The setup page of the NerdMiner (the WiFiManager page you reach through the NerdMinerAP network) has three fields for the pool. They look like this on a NerdMiner V4 as we ship it:

That is all a NerdMiner needs. You do not invent a worker name and you do not create a login; the pool lists your miner under the Bitcoin address you entered. If you have several NerdMiners, enter the same address on each of them and they count for that one address together.

Public solo pools for a NerdMiner

The preset pool is a public solo pool. Solo means: the pool sends your miner a block template, the miner searches for a valid block on its own, and if it finds one the full block reward goes to your address, minus the fee of the pool if it charges one; the preset public-pool.io currently charges none. Nothing is split with other miners and nothing is paid out in between. That is the trade a lottery miner makes, and it is the only kind of pool where 250 KH/s make sense.

For a first setup, leave the preset as it is. Switch to your own node when you want to mine without a third party, and to another public solo pool only when you have a reason, for example a pool closer to you. Whatever you pick, the miner does not care which pool it talks to as long as host and port are right. It does have to be a Bitcoin pool: Dogecoin, Litecoin and Monero use other algorithms, so their pools cannot use the work of a NerdMiner. Our article on what a Bitaxe can mine goes through every coin, for the NerdMiner as well.

Change the pool on a running miner

The pool is changed on the same setup page you used for the first setup. A NerdMiner has no dashboard at its own IP address; every setting goes through the NerdMinerAP page.

1. Note the new host and port, copied from the website of the pool.
2. Bring the miner back into setup mode: unplug it, keep the top button pressed and plug it back in. The NerdMiner setup guide shows which button that is. The miner opens the NerdMinerAP network with your current settings; join it and open 192.168.4.1 if the page does not appear by itself.
3. Tap Configure Wi-Fi. Replace Pool url and Pool port, check that Your BTC address is still the one you want and that the Wi-Fi fields are filled in.
4. Tap Save. The miner restarts with the new values and connects to your Wi-Fi and to the new pool.
5. Give it a few minutes. When the block template counter on the display counts up, the new pool connection works.

Troubleshooting

0 KH/s or the block template counter does not move

The miner is on your Wi-Fi, but the hashrate stays at 0 or the block template counter does not change. Almost always the pool url or the pool port is wrong: a missing letter, a swapped digit, or a port that belongs to another pool. Open the setup page, compare both fields with the values from the table above and save again. Also check that your network does not block outgoing connections on the pool port; some office and school networks do.

The pool website shows 0 workers

The pool has not seen a connection under the address you looked up. Three checks: the address on the pool website and the address on the miner must be identical, the display of the miner must show a hashrate and block templates, and host and port must match the pool you are looking at. A miner that has just started needs a few minutes before it appears on the pool website.

Block templates count up but shares stay at 0

A share needs a hash above the difficulty of the pool, and at 250 KH/s that takes a while. If block templates count up, the pool connection is fine; give the miner ten minutes and check the pool website with your Bitcoin address. Shares are how the pool confirms that your miner is working, but only a hash above the network difficulty wins a block.

Two or more miners on one address

This is fine and needs no extra setup. Enter the same Bitcoin address on every NerdMiner; the pool counts their work for that one address. If one of them does not show up, treat it like a single miner: check Wi-Fi, host and port on that device.

The miner returns to the setup screen

This is a Wi-Fi problem, not a pool problem: the miner could not join your network and opens NerdMinerAP again. The fixes for that, including networks with a login page, are in the NerdMiner setup guide.

Solo pool or pay-per-share pool for a lottery miner

A pay-per-share pool pays every miner for the shares it submits, in proportion to its hashrate. The share of 250 KH/s in a block is so small that it stays below any payout minimum; a NerdMiner in such a pool would run for years without a single payout. A solo pool turns the same 250 KH/s into a lottery ticket: the chance per block is tiny, but if the miner ever finds a block, the whole reward goes to your address.

Your chance of finding a block on a given day is your hashrate divided by the hashrate of the whole network, times the roughly 144 blocks the network finds per day. The solo mining guide walks through those numbers, and the miner comparison lists hashrate and power of every miner we stock side by side.

If you want a bigger ticket in the same lottery, the lottery miners page lists the other solo miners we stock, from small desk miners to home miners with several TH/s. All of them mine to a solo pool the same way; only the setup page looks different.