Short answer: HIP 149 passed, and IoT is moving away from Proof-of-Coverage as a reward signal. HeliumGeek now treats IoT hotspots as data-transfer-first: PoC gap cards, beacon/witness charts, witness maps, hex scale, estimated PoC rewards, and other coverage-reward tools are no longer shown as the main way to understand an IoT hotspot.
If the app suddenly looks simpler for your IoT hotspot, that is intentional. The app is moving the IoT experience away from "am I beaconing and witnessing?" and toward "is this hotspot carrying useful IoT data?" An August 2026 Advisory Council update added a second issue for IoT owners to watch: the Council recommended transitioning the IoT network to another capable operator, or decommissioning it if no viable operator emerges.
August 2026 update
IoT transition is now an explicit recommendation
In official Helium Discord updates, the seated Advisory Council recommended that Nova concentrate execution, capital, and organizational bandwidth on Mobile and Wi-Fi offload. To support that focus, the Council recommended transitioning the IoT network to another party or, if no viable operator emerges, decommissioning it.
Mario Di Dio later wrote on August 20, 2026 UTC that Nova Labs agrees with the recommendation and has started identifying and evaluating prospects for the transition, with a goal of completing it before the end of 2026. Interested parties were directed to iot@helium.com.
What changed
IoT is now data-first in HeliumGeek
PoC is retiring
Beaconing, witnessing, unselected witnesses, hex scale, and estimated coverage rewards are no longer the forward-looking IoT earning model.
Data transfer matters
The useful signal is whether the hotspot is moving packets and earning IoT data rewards.
PoC-only hotspots are exposed
A hotspot that only had PoC rewards and no data usage no longer has that PoC reward path.
IoT operation is under review
The Council later recommended an IoT transition to another operator, with decommissioning as the fallback if no viable operator emerges.
Why did my IoT hotspot page change?
Before HIP 149, a normal IoT hotspot screen needed to answer PoC questions: when did it last beacon, when did it last witness, was it selected, was it denied, what was the hex scale, and how did those events translate into rewards?
After HIP 149, those are not the right primary questions for future IoT rewards. The main IoT reward path is data transfer. HeliumGeek changed the IoT hotspot page so the app does not encourage users to optimize for retired PoC mechanics.
The network rollout can happen in steps after a passed vote, but HeliumGeek's IoT app experience is already aligned with the approved direction: PoC is no longer the planning model for IoT earnings.
Is the IoT network shutting down?
Not automatically. The August 2026 Council recommendation does not say that IoT is already shut down. It says Nova should prioritize Mobile and Wi-Fi offload and should transition IoT to another party. If no willing and capable operator emerges, decommissioning becomes the fallback path described by the Council.
That makes IoT a transition question, not just a rewards-screen question. For IoT operators, the important thing to watch is whether a credible new operator appears, what transition terms are proposed, and whether future network support remains available for routing real IoT data.
What disappeared or moved out of the main IoT view?
On IoT hotspot pages, HeliumGeek no longer treats these as main forward-looking health or reward sections:
- PoC activity gap boards for beaconing and witnessing
- Beaconer and witness role charts
- Selected, unselected, valid, and invalid witness charts
- Reward Activities built around PoC reward slices
- Witnessed and Witnesses map links
- Witness arrival statistics
- Main Off-Chain and On-Chain activity shortcuts on pure IoT hotspot pages, where the old flow mostly sent users back into PoC-era records
- Estimated IoT PoC reward rows
- Hex scale and estimated coverage rows as top earning signals
- Denylist warnings as a primary IoT reward-health signal
Some historical records can still exist in the backend or in older exports, but HeliumGeek is no longer presenting PoC as the thing to manage for future IoT rewards.
What should I look at now?
For IoT, the practical checks are now much narrower:
- Packet Router connection: the latest reported connection time and whether the connection is currently considered OK.
- Daily Data Transfers: how much IoT data the hotspot carried each day.
- IoT rewards: recent rewards, daily and monthly reward history, and network rank where available.
- Actual usage: whether sensors, devices, or customers are sending useful traffic through the hotspot.
The "Data Only" style chip is part of this change. It does not mean your hotspot hardware suddenly changed category. It means the app is using the data-transfer-oriented IoT display because PoC is no longer the forward-looking reward mechanism.
Why is my IoT hotspot not earning anymore?
HIP 149 retired IoT Proof-of-Coverage rewards. If your hotspot previously earned only from beaconing and witnessing but does not carry actual IoT data, it no longer has that PoC reward path and may now earn nothing. IoT data transfer continues and remains rewardable.
The hard case is a hotspot that was earning only through PoC. In the June 24 UTC epoch, ending June 25, 2026 at 00:00 UTC, HeliumGeek's IoT reward snapshot showed 114,267 of 163,607 rewarded IoT hotspots had only PoC rewards and no data rewards. Under the HIP 149 reward model, a hotspot with the same usage profile would have no IoT rewards for that period.
The later Council recommendation does not change those reward mechanics by itself. It does change the broader risk profile: IoT now depends not only on actual data usage, but also on whether a capable operator takes over long-term responsibility for the network.
For a practical decision guide covering current rewards, operating costs, and whether keeping a gateway online may help preserve the network during the operator search, read Why is my Helium IoT hotspot earning almost nothing?
Most affected
114,267
IoT hotspots had PoC-only rewards in that epoch.
Data rewarded
49,340
IoT hotspots had data rewards in that epoch.
Median data reward
0.000781 HNT
Among hotspots that did receive IoT data rewards.
Why not keep showing PoC anyway?
Because it would be misleading, and because those screens depend on PoC data that Nova is retiring from the network data pipeline. A screen full of beacon, witness, selected-witness, hex-scale, and estimated-PoC widgets makes sense when those metrics drive rewards and fresh PoC data is still being processed and published. After HIP 149, those widgets can make a hotspot look "healthy" in an old way while saying very little about whether it will earn from useful IoT traffic.
HeliumGeek also cannot keep accurate fresh PoC charts once the upstream PoC processing and publishing path is shut down. Keeping stale PoC screens around would create more confusion than clarity. The app is therefore moving the main IoT view to the data-transfer signals that still matter.
What about dashboard filters?
Reward dashboard filters are also simplified. Legacy reward-slice choices such as PoC versus data are normalized to aggregate rewards. That means the dashboard focuses on total reward outcomes instead of showing obsolete PoC reward slices as if they were still active planning categories.
What if I operate IoT hotspots?
The practical checklist is different now:
- Make sure the hotspot is online and able to route traffic.
- Look for real packet activity rather than beacon/witness activity.
- Use daily and monthly reward history to see whether data rewards are actually arriving.
- If a hotspot has no real IoT data usage, expect rewards to be very limited or zero.
- For future placement decisions, think less about abstract coverage density and more about whether there are real IoT devices or customers nearby.
- Watch for official transition updates, including whether a new operator is identified before the end-of-2026 goal described by Nova.
Is this the same as Mobile?
No. HIP 149 retired PoC on both Mobile and IoT, but the practical impact is different.
Mobile had already been mostly data-reward-driven for months, and the HIP added a target-minimum mechanism tied to carrier data economics. IoT does not get the same Mobile data floor. IoT data transfer continues at the existing data-credit peg, while the old IoT PoC reward path is retired.
Some Mobile PoC-related data will also become unavailable as Nova retires the underlying processing and publishing path. HeliumGeek will handle those Mobile screens separately; this FAQ is focused on the IoT changes users are seeing now.
Did HeliumGeek remove my historical rewards?
No. Your historical reward totals and daily/monthly reward views are still about what actually happened. The change is about which tools are shown as useful going forward.
If you earned PoC in the past, those past rewards remain historical facts. The app is simply no longer using PoC widgets as the main explanation for current and future IoT hotspot performance.
Where can I read more?
- What is HIP 149?
- HIP 149 vote result on Helium Vote
- Full HIP 149 text
- June 10 town hall notes
- June 18 HIP 149 town hall notes
- July 7 advisory council town hall notes
- HeliumGeek Event Notes
- Official Helium Discord Advisory Council update from August 6, 2026 at 1:46 PM ET / 10:46 AM PT / 17:46 UTC, and Mario Di Dio/Nova Labs response from August 20, 2026 at 5:34 PM ET / 2:34 PM PT / 21:34 UTC
Last updated September 2, 2026.