Futurebit APOLLO II Getting Started Manual

Apollo II
Getting Started Guide
Welcome to the FutureBit Apollo!
If you are reading this you are ready to setup your Apollo, and should have already been presented with
the Apollo Web Dashboard, and its initial setup screen.
First step is to connect your Apollo to your local network. You can either plug in an ethernet cable from your
router to the back of this device, or connect to your local wifi network by clicking on the settings menu bar
(Power button on the upper right hand section of the screen will bring up the wifi menu).
Please note our wifi controller only works reliably on 2.4GHz wifi networks. 5GHz/Mixed 2.4/5GHz network
might not connect. Most routers have options to separate the networks on two separate SSIDs. Use the 2.4GHz
network to connect your Apollo if using wifi.
After you have successfully connected to the internet, you can proceed to setting up your pool in the web
dashboard setup screen.
Choosing Mining Mode/Configuring a Pool
We have made the setup process as easy as possible for new users, and Apollo II units now come with a
personal satscard (satscard.com/faq) allowing you to have a bitcoin mining wallet ready to go out of the box! All
you need to do is make the choice between regular Pooled Mining or Solo Mining:
Pooled Mining
You are contributing your hash power to a centralized pool that aggregates all mining hashrate and creates
block templates for everyone on the pool. When the pool finds a block you are rewarded a share of the block
rewards based on the % contribution of hash power to the pool. This allows for constant stream of earned
rewards over time. You are essentially giving up some decentralization of the bitcoin network for more
consistent payouts.
Due to the low relative hash-rate of the Apollo, and the high difficulty of Bitcoin network it can take a very long
time to receive a minimum payout on some pools, especially if you want to avoid paying a "payout fee." Do your
research on each pool and what their minimum payout is and their fees. Once you commit to a pool you will be
tied there for up to several months until you get your payout, its its extremely important your committed to that
pool before you start mining. While some pools can pay out smaller amounts with lightning payments you have
to DYOR on whether this is right for you.
Solo Mining
A large innovation of our Apollo OS 2 is the ability to spin up your own stratum solo pool and solo mining
directly to your node all on one system. If you select this option all you need is a bitcoin payout address to get
started (or just tap the satscard that came with your device to an NFC capable smartphone to get your
address). Solo Mining means you are competing with the entire Bitcoin network to find the next bitcoin block.