BITMAIN AntRouter R1: First Wi-Fi device with a bitcoin mining chip

The AntRouter R1 is a wireless device featuring a bitcoin mining chip. It's set up to mine on AntPool's solo mode, so as long as it's plugged in, you're in the running to solve a block and potentially earn the full block reward of 25 bitcoins. Here’s what the R1 can do: Regular Wireless Router You can keep the R1 connected at home as a standard wireless router, making sure your phones and computers stay online at home or work. Portable WiFi Access Point On the move? You can use the R1 with either a wired or wireless connection to set up your own WiFi access point. Fast USB Charger Just plug your mobile device into the R1 with a USB cable to charge it. It works with Android phones, iPhones, and tablets. The built-in battery makes it perfect for keeping things charged while traveling, especially for phones and tablets. Bitcoin Mining Controller You can also use the R1 as a controller to manage multiple AntMiner U3s. Simply connect your U3 to the AntRouter R1 via a USB hub, and you won’t have to keep it connected to your computer. Tech Specs: Warranty The AntRouter R1 comes with a 1-year limited warranty. If you run into a major issue not caused by human error within 15 days of purchase, you can get a replacement. Just remember, you'll need to send back the faulty unit at your expense after you've opened a support ticket and followed Bitmain's troubleshooting steps.

First   5.5 ghs at solo mining lets get that block....

1) It could be better if USB port could handle USB modems; 2) Why not let user to choose the pool? It seems that nobody need such device. p.s. personally I would like to install a similar device into my car. There is a relatively free electricity in it, and this device should have a slot for SIM cards (and/or Wi-Fi module) for cgminer to connect to the pools. BITMAIN, take note of this.

Forcing it to solo mine on antpool makes this device completely unacceptable. Limiting the USB port to usage as a charger or for U3s only makes the port pretty much worthless. I personally have zero use for WiFi, others might find that usefull.  Mostly, I'm just trying to figure out what market this thing is supposed to be for - from what I can see it seems just as worthless and flawed, abet at a much lower price, as that stupid thing 21 just released.

Unfortunately Bitmain often mean not what they say.

The advantage of forcing miners to AntPool makes it easier to configure. It is unacceptable for veteran miners, yes. I think their target customers are complete mining newbies who might be interested in a mining lottery. Haven't done precise calculations, I believe 5.5G hashrate would statistically take more than 100 years to mine a block.

Just to echo a lot of what is said above. 1) Please allow us to choose which Pool we connect to and the Mining Style. 2) Please make the USB port able to accept a 3G/4G USB Modem or a Tethered Iphone 3) Please generalise the Mining Host so that other Mining Devices can be supported. If you don't want to do the above then please release the source code for the firmware into the Public Domain so that others can make changes and add functionality. Having this as an open source device could make it very popular and better achieve the objective of Bitcoin Mining Decentralisation.   Rich

Quite a few Bitmain miners are already available on Amazon by a seller called "Bitmain". Not sure if he is really the manufacturer. I am sure it wouldn't take long for this router to be sold on Amazon, available to newbies.

Maybe ship the S7 miners you have already sold rather than rolling out batches of more and even different products?

Shipping costs R1 with  1 USD adapter - 42.94 USD Shipping costs R1  without 1 USD Adapter - 21.47 USD Shipping costs for 10x R1 -  63.77 USD Shipping costs for 10x R1  with adapter - 127.34 USD Very expensive Power Adapter for 1 USD.

A few questions for Bitmain. 1) Spec says 100V - 220V. Are these ok on 240V? 2) What is the capacity of the on board battery? 3) Is the battery only suitable for charging USB devices or can it also power the router without mains connection? 4) Does the Router continue to Mine when on battery power? 5) If the battery supports running the device, what is the battery life? 6) Is there a more complete Specification / Manual that answers these & other question? Thanks Rich

What kind of plug comes standard on the R1?  Any other sources for the US adapter since it's sold out on Bitmain?

You can get them on ebay for around $1 shipped from China. Might take a while though.

Shipping is too expensive.  Why pay more for shipping than the device actually costs.  The ones shipping to US residents should already be in the US and can be shipped out for 5 dollars max.

Does it work as a wireless access point? I don't see any description of it.

I think the price is fair for the unit, for what it is capable of doing, but paying more than the device cost to have it shipped to me just seems wrong.

I've got a group buy going: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1197152.msg12563869#msg12563869 I'm interested to see how well U3s run using it as a controller...

Does it say to everyone "The product of AntRouter Plug Adapter to US has been sold out" ?    Seems like they sold out of plug for the R1, or it is a glitch.

I suspect it's a glitch while they sort out the postage costs which were as much for the adapter as the Router. Ordered mine without as they did not have a UK Adapter available. Rich

I wait until someone publishes a hack, so I can produce some dust on another pool...