From New York Rooftops to $896K: How Alex Turned Helium Radios Into Real Income
Life in New York can be loud, gritty, beautiful — and expensive. Alex knows that better than most. He runs a satellite & HVAC business in the heart of Queens and Brooklyn. Hundreds of clients call him to install antennas, satellite dishes, AC units. He’s nobody’s crypto veteran. He’s the rooftop guy.
Then, one night, over stale bread and wine, a friend dropped a question: “What if we could put something else up there that printed money while you sleep?”
That question changed everything.
The First Move—$35,000, 9 Radios & A Rooftop Gamble
Alex took out $35,000 — enough to make his accountant raise an eyebrow — and bought his first 9 Helium radios. He mounted them among the usual rigging: HVAC pits, satellite mounts, gutters. Every rooftop was territory. Every landlord was a potential partner.
He learned fast:
- Which rooftop gets sunlight, which gets signal blockage
- When a building’s ownership would fight you vs lease you space
- That early “silent” radios are just location bets waiting to pay off
Within a few months, the 9 turned into 40, then 80. There were dark days—radios earning pennies, landlords complaining—but Alex leaned harder on what worked, cut what didn’t.
The HELIUM Cash-Out: $400K That Changed Everything
Helium was Alex’s first big wave. As token earnings spiked and Helium hype hit the mainstream, his wallet swelled.
At peak, it touched nearly $1M. He sold part of his stack, cashing out $400,000.
It wasn’t for a Lambo. It paid off his house. Covered family medical bills. Wiped debt.
That moment alone would’ve been enough for most people to walk away. Secure the win. Close the book.
But Alex didn’t stop.
Transition to Helium Mobile… and Beyond
When CBRS slowed down and rewards dropped, Alex pivoted.
He saw the next opportunity in Helium Mobile Wi-Fi. Instead of pulling gear off rooftops and retiring, he doubled down.
- Today, he owns and operates 75 Helium outdoor Wi-Fi radios.
- Locations range from laundromats to barbershops to busy commercial hubs.
- The focus: real foot traffic, real demand, real-world usage.
But Alex didn’t stop at Helium. He started experimenting with other DePIN networks that pushed the idea of “infrastructure mining” even further:
- Geodnet → turning GPS satellites into decentralized location infrastructure.
- WeatherXM → crowdsourcing hyper-local weather data from rooftops and backyards.
- Wingbits → plugging into the aviation data network, tracking aircraft and flight info.
For Alex, these weren’t just gadgets. They were the next frontier.
“I didn’t waste my money on hype radios. I picked Helium because I thought it had more potential. Now, I’m doing the same with Geodnet, WeatherXM, Wingbits. I want to be ahead of the curve again.”
The key lesson? Alex’s conviction isn’t in a single project. It’s in the idea that decentralized infrastructure is the future. First CBRS, then Helium Mobile Wi-Fi, now a portfolio of DePIN networks.
Buying Low, Selling Smart: The Helium Graph Story
If you chart Helium’s token (HNT) price from its early years → peak → correction, you’ll see something familiar to every crypto cycle:
- Steady accumulation in the shadows while only a few people are paying attention
- Breakout green candles as public awareness, volume & hype line up
- Then a sharp correction when growth outpaces infrastructure
Alex wasn’t watching Helium price in isolation. He mapped his earnings per radio alongside HNT’s chart. Two signals he traded on:
- Rising token price + stable/minimal radio relocations → holding
- When token price peaked & volume dropped OR operating costs jumped (rent/leasing, maintenance) → time to sell some chips off
That’s how, at what felt like a very high point, he cashed out $896,598.65. He didn’t wait for the top; he saw the warning signs, sold high, kept enough in so he still participates but hedge-protected.
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The Rollercoaster You Should Want
Helium isn’t a “set it and forget it” income stream. It’s active. It demands strategy.
- Rule changes slapped unexpected AF fees on some radios.
- Some locations got muted (signal interference, zoning issues).
- Token price slid. Others panic-sold. Alex repositioned: sold underperformers, moved units to places with real foot traffic & repeat demand.
One night, after a brutal week of underperformance, he nearly pulled the plug. But then a few radios in laundromats and routers in apartment complexes started spiking. He scaled that.
That’s when things went from “barely profitable” to “life-changing profitable.”
Exit Strategy: Don’t Get Too Greedy
If there’s one lesson Alex wants every investor to take away, it’s this: knowing when to sell is just as important as knowing what to buy.
At the peak of Helium’s CBRS run, his wallet was stuffed with tokens. He could’ve sat on them, praying for one more pump. That’s how most people get wrecked.
Instead, he made the tough call: convert tokens to fiat.
Even though he didn’t sell at the absolute top, the move still netted him hundreds of thousands in real dollars. Enough to:
- Pay off his house
- Cover family medical expenses
- Wipe out debt and give his family breathing room
Here’s the key: he didn’t let greed blind him. He sold when the numbers were life-changing, not when the internet told him to HODL forever.
And here’s the kicker — even at the price he sold, Alex was sitting on a mountain of tokens. That means his fiat conversion wasn’t just luck. It was volume. He had built such a large position through smart deployments that he could afford to sell without regrets.
The move didn’t just secure profits. It gave him the freedom to roll his earnings into the next wave: Helium Mobile Wi-Fi, Geodnet, WeatherXM, and Wingbits.
Why Investors Should Care
Because Alex’s story isn’t rare. It’s just one of the few we hear. And that’s what makes it powerful. Here’s what his playbook tells us:
- Real infrastructure wins — not just meme coins. If your radio is in a good spot, traffic & demand are real.
- You don’t need a million radios; you need good ones — 75 well-placed Wi-Fi radios outperform 300 radios in dead zones.
- Token price moves matter — know your macro charts — Helium’s token had waves. Alex rode them.
- Cash-out moments are sacred — you don’t have to HODL forever; taking profit at the right time gives you breathing room and reinvestment ammo.
The Playbook
Here’s what you can steal from Alex’s journey:
- Start small, scale fast — 9 radios became 150.
- Location > everything — bad spot? Move it.
- Partnerships multiply growth — investors + operators = power combo.
- Take chips off the table — cashing out $840K gave Alex freedom.
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Never stop evolving — CBRS died, Helium Mobile rose, and Alex rode both waves and to finally move to Geondet and WeatherXM.
Final Word
There are no guarantees in crypto. But there are winners.
Alex isn’t a social media guru or a hedge fund manager. He’s a rooftop installer with grit.
He shows that with the right strategy, physical infrastructure + token rewards + timing = something big.
When people say “crypto mining is dead,” show them this story.
Because the rooftop hustle boils down to this: know your equipment, know your market, and know when to pivot.