Getting ready to setup up a Bitcoin node once I can find a highly coveted Raspberry Pi 4 without taking a loan for one .
1. Would setting up mining rewards on a wallet on my own node afford me more privacy from snooping eyes ?
2. If I set up my S19 XP ASIC miner with a pool through a VPN, would that hinder my chances with block rewards ?
3. How important is internet speed and/or bandwidth in relation to block rewards and if so what are suggested upload/download speeds ?
Thanks,
Ron
1. Yes, if you setup your own node, and you get a complete solo mining operation up and running, you would increase your privacy... Nobody would know you were the one that solved the block. Other nodes would just receive the block you relay to them, but they would have no way of really knowing you were the one that solved it in the first place. If you mine in a pool, the pool operator will always know how much he has payed out, to which address, which username, which ip,... this is not the case if you do a completely solo mining operation.
2. I doubt it... Depending on the VPN... But i don't think it'll do you much harm. There might be some latency, maybe even some package loss (in extreme cases), but in a pool mining setup i don't think this will really influence your income.
3. If you setup your own solo mining operation, you might want to have decent connectivity to other nodes... You'll have to download a new block and verify it before you can start mining, if this process takes to long, you'll lose some valuable seconds each time a new block is found by someone else. In a pool mining setup you get your work from the pool, and you don't need to download the complete block (you're not running your own node, at least not for mining purposes) so this is less of an issue.
Now, just as a sidenote... I don't know if you were kidding about the loan for an rPi4... You do know an ASIC is expensive to buy AND to operate, right? If you pay to much for you electricity, you might always mine at a loss even if you have a "perfect" setup.
Also, setting up a solo mining operation isn't plug and play... It requires some knowledge and preferably reliable (redundant) hardware.
And last but not least: you know that it's all about odds and averages if you solo mine, right? You might mine forever and never get *any* income... If you mine in a bigger pool, it'll cost you some privacy and a % of your income, but you'll have a steady income and you'll know you're not in charge of setting up and maintaining your complete operation (just your network connectivity, your home power and your ASIC)