Bitaxe Gamma 601: step-by-step setup guide

You can set up a Bitaxe Gamma 601 in about 10 minutes, with no technical knowledge. All you need is a 5 V / 6 A power supply, a phone and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi: connect to the miner's hotspot, open 192.168.4.1 in your browser, enter your Wi-Fi, the pool address and your Bitcoin address – and the miner starts mining.

Summary

• The Bitaxe Gamma 601 is a small open-source Bitcoin miner with a BM1370 chip. It delivers around 1.2 TH/s at 15–25 W.
• It is configured through the AxeOS web interface – no app or registration required.
• It only works with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. It will not connect on 5 GHz – the most common installation mistake.
• Because of its low hashrate, it is mainly a "lottery ticket" for a whole block (solo mining) and a way to understand how mining works. Don't expect a regular income.

What you will need

• Bitaxe Gamma 601 with heatsink and fan.
• 5 V / 6 A (30 W) power supply with a 5.5 × 2.1 mm connector. A phone charger or USB-C adapter is not enough – the miner would keep restarting.
• 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (home router or a mobile hotspot).
• A phone or computer with a browser.
• A Bitcoin address to receive rewards. We recommend a bc1q… address (Native SegWit); some pools do not accept bc1p (Taproot) addresses.

Step 1: Connect the power and switch the miner on

1. Plug the power supply connector into the Bitaxe's power socket and plug the supply into the mains.
2. The display lights up and shows the start screen. Wait about 10 seconds for the miner to boot.
3. Place the miner so the fan can freely draw in and blow out air – not inside a cabinet or under a shelf.

Step 2: Connect to the miner's hotspot

1. Open the list of Wi-Fi networks on your phone or computer.
2. Connect to the network named AxeOS_XXXX (Bitaxe_XXXX on older firmware). No password is needed.
3. The setup page usually opens by itself. If not, enter http://192.168.4.1 in your browser.

Step 3: Enter your Wi-Fi

1. In AxeOS, open Settings → Network (on some versions it is right on the start page).
2. Fill in the network name (SSID) and password. Watch out for upper and lower case.
3. If the miner won't connect, check that the network runs on 2.4 GHz. On routers that broadcast both bands under one name, you may need to give the 2.4 GHz network a separate name.

Step 4: Set the pool and Bitcoin address

In Settings → Mining (Stratum) you specify where the miner will send its work:

• Stratum URL: the pool address without the port, e.g. public-pool.io
• Port: e.g. 21496
• User: your BTC address, optionally followed by a dot and a worker name – e.g. bc1q…vaseadresa.bitaxe1
• Password: x (or leave blank)

Click Save and restart the miner (Restart). After the restart it connects to your Wi-Fi and the display shows its new IP address on your home network – use it to reach the interface next time.

Which pool to choose

A Bitaxe has such a tiny share of the Bitcoin network that in a regular pool (PPLNS, FPPS) it would earn pennies a day. That is why most owners mine solo: the miner tries to find a whole block, and if it succeeds, it keeps the entire reward. The chance is small but real – blocks found by small miners really do turn up from time to time. We explain the difference between payout types in our article PPS, PPLNS and FPPS.

How much a Bitaxe earns

When mining in a pool, earnings are calculated from hashrate. Today 1 TH/s on Bitcoin earns roughly 0,84 Kč a day (we recalculate this figure every hour based on network difficulty and the exchange rate). A Bitaxe with 1.2 TH/s therefore mines about one Czech koruna a day while using around 0.5 kWh of electricity. At typical Czech electricity prices, pool mining does not pay off.

Its value lies elsewhere: as a quiet and cheap way to try mining at home, and as a solo "lottery" for a whole block. If you want a machine that actually makes money, take a look at current ASIC miner profitability or quiet miners for home mining.

Performance, voltage and temperatures

By default the Gamma 601 runs at roughly 490–525 MHz with a core voltage of 1150–1200 mV. That gives 1.0–1.2 TH/s. You will find these values under Settings (Frequency, Core Voltage).

Overclocking adds tens of per cent of hashrate, but at the cost of higher temperature, power draw and noise. If you try it, raise the frequency in 25 MHz steps, add 10–20 mV if it becomes unstable, and once you find the limit, step back one notch. Heavier overclocking requires a quality 6 A power supply and a better heatsink. We describe what overclocking does to larger machines in our article Overclocking ASICs.

Firmware updates

The firmware (ESP-Miner / AxeOS) is updated straight from the browser: download the file from the ESP-Miner project's releases page on GitHub and upload it under System → OTA Update. The update takes 1–3 minutes – do not switch the miner off during it. Before you start, note down your pool and Wi-Fi settings. If you bought the miner from us, please check with us before updating the firmware – older units come with a pre-installed version they were tested with.

Common problems and solutions

Technical specifications

Sources

• D-Central: Bitaxe Gamma setup guide
• solomining.de: Bitaxe 601 Gamma – specifications
• ESP-Miner (AxeOS) on GitHub