Does low hash rate solo mining help process transactions?

[Pluto]

Situation: I want to run a full node to do my small part in the distributed Bitcoin network. I have Block Erupters and I'm willing to run them solo mining despite not having any chance of finding blocks if it really could help the network process transactions.

Question: Since I would never solve a block would the transactions I process really contribute to the network?

If the answer is NO then why run the Satoshi client? Is it just to distribute the Blockchain?

[1715580575]

1715580575

[ranochigo]

Situation: I want to run a full node to do my small part in the distributed Bitcoin network. I have Block Erupters and I'm willing to run them solo mining despite not having any chance of finding blocks if it really could help the network process transactions.

Question: Since I would never solve a block would the transactions I process really contribute to the network?

If the answer is NO then why run the Satoshi client? Is it just to distribute the Blockchain?

No, transaction confirms ONLY when a block is found. You can contribute more by joining a pool although you have a slim chance of finding a block solo mining at low hashrate.
Satoshi client is only helpful if the port 8332 is opened. Satoshi client helps to relay transaction to other nodes. It also distributes block to other clients and helps other who are new or who are blocks behind to download the blocks from them. Satoshi client is only helpful if you run the client 24/7, it is recommended to run light weight client if you don't keep your computer on at all times.

[torusJKL]

Everyone who uses the Bitcoin Core program keeps a copy of the full blockchain, which is never a bad thing if you want to contribute to the network.
I wouldn't say that you need to be online 24/7 but surely for a few consecutive hours.

If you aren't online 24/7 I wouldn't use the Bitcoin Core as your main wallet because if you just want to make a quick payment it can be a pain in the neck to wait for the local copy of the blockchain to update.

I would recommend a client like Electrum.

[claimore]

Everything helps even if its a drop in the sea.

[Farmer17]

If the answer is NO then why run the Satoshi client? Is it just to distribute the Blockchain?

We need more full nodes in the bitcoin network.
The whole bitcoin project is worth billions of USD now, but there are only about 7000 full nodes in the world. https://getaddr.bitnodes.io/

[DannyHamilton]

Full nodes enforce the consensus rules of the protocol (this is probably one of the more important reasons to run a full node)

Full nodes relay transactions.

Full nodes store copies of the complete blockchain.

Full nodes provide historical blocks to new full nodes.

If you have a very low hash rate then you probably aren't going to assist the network at all by mining, but you can run a full node without mining and still provide all the benefits listed above.

If you have enough hashrate to complete at least a few successful P2Pool shares per day, then you can help maintain bitcoin's decentralized nature by mining with P2Pool.