We introduced new information on Explorer Hotspot pages today which some of you have found, that identifies if your Hotspot is being “Relayed” or not.
Whether your Hotspot was being relayed or not, has always been there, but we exposed the information today, as an added piece of information to understand and optimize earnings.
A little bit about Relay: If a Hotspot being relayed, it means its internet connection is being relayed through another Hotspot on the Network, which can negatively affect mining. To take the Hotspot out of relay requires opening ports on your internet router (to port 44158), and may require some additional work beyond opening ports, like setting a static IP, depending on your router manufacturer.
Please note that this is not something “newly introduced” via a firmware update, but has always been there. Further more, the relay issue is being exacerbated as the Network grows, which means the relay from Hotspot to Hotspot grows exponentially and its effects are more pronounced now than when the Network was smaller.
If you find your Hotspot relayed, a recommendation is to google “Port Forwarding <insert your router name>” and go from there. Once the changes have been made, it can take a few hours for Explorer to reflect your Hotspot’s newly “unrelayed” status, as gossip is slow. Have a great weekend
