Snowpad runs on almost anything, but the two most common operator setups are a phone running SnowGain and a PC running the frpc installer. Here's how to choose.
Side by side
| Phone node | PC node | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 5 minutes, in-app | ~10 minutes, one curl command |
| Throughput | 20–80 Mbps realistic | 100–500 Mbps, bounded by your upload |
| Power draw | ~3–5 W | 30–90 W desktop; 10–15 W mini PC |
| Uptime pattern | Follows your day (charge, WiFi) | 24/7 by design |
| Best network | Mobile (4G/5G) or home WiFi | Home fibre / Ethernet |
| Earnings ceiling | Lower | 3–5× a typical phone |
Run a phone node if…
- You want zero setup — download, token, done.
- Your phone sits on the charger at home most of the day.
- You're testing the waters before dedicating hardware.
Phones are the premium mobile IP supply. A phone on a real SIM has the most valuable IP type on the network — great demand, great earnings per GB.
Run a PC node if…
- You have home fibre (JioFiber, ACT, Airtel Xstream) with real upload.
- You can leave a machine on 24/7 — an old laptop or a ₹8k mini PC works.
- You want the higher earnings ceiling without touching your daily phone.
The PC installer is a single command:
curl -fsSL https://ops.console.snowpad.io/pc-node/install.sh | bash -s -- --node-token <your-token>
It downloads frpc, fetches your rendered config server-side, and sets up a hardened systemd service. Full walkthrough in the PC node runbook.
The honest tradeoff
- A phone node costs almost nothing to run and earns modestly.
- A PC node costs electricity (~₹150–500/month depending on hardware) and earns substantially more on fibre.
- Both are the same pool, same payout schedule, same rules.
Many operators run both
Phones cover the mobile-IP demand; the PC covers bulk throughput. If you have the hardware, register both — the dashboard tracks them separately and the earnings combine into one payout.