# About the Pools category

**URL:** <https://osmu.xyz/t/about-the-pools-category/26>\
**Category:** Pools\
**Tags:** open-source, public-pool, solo-mining\
**Created:** [May 29, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://osmu.xyz/t/about-the-pools-category/26 "2026-05-29T21:33:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WantClue](https://osmu.xyz/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@WantClue](https://osmu.xyz/u/WantClue)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://osmu.xyz/t/about-the-pools-category/26/1 "2026-05-29T21:33:21Z")

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# Welcome to the Pool category 🟧

This is the spot to talk about **mining pools** — connecting your Bitaxe (or any miner) to one, comparing options, troubleshooting stratum issues, and sharing solo wins. 🤞

## Pool vs. solo, in one breath

- **Pool mining** → many miners combine hashrate and split rewards proportionally. Small, steady payouts.

- **Solo mining** → you hash on your own. Astronomical odds of finding a block, but if you do, the **entire block reward is yours**. No splits.

Most Bitaxes in this community run **solo** , because pool payouts from a 1 TH/s miner are essentially dust — but a solo win is life-changing.

## Public Pool 🌐

The community favourite is **[Public Pool](https://web.public-pool.io/)** — a fully open-source, solo Bitcoin mining pool.

A few reasons people love it:

- 🔓 **100% open source** — both the stratum server and the GUI live on [GitHub](https://github.com/benjamin-wilson/public-pool).

- 🏠 **Self-hostable** — point your miners at the official instance, or run your own at home.

- 🪶 **Lean & maintainable** — built from scratch for easy install, a modern UI, and low complexity.

More info: [osmu.wiki/public-pool/about](https://osmu.wiki/public-pool/about)

## Things to post here

- ⚙ Your stratum config — what URL/port/worker setup are you using?

- 🏠 Self-hosting Public Pool — guides, gotchas, Docker tips.

- 🎰 Solo wins (or near-misses) — share the celebration!

- 🤔 Pool comparisons — CKPool, Solo CK, OCEAN, public-pool, etc.

- 🐛 Troubleshooting — share disconnects, rejected shares, or weird difficulty behaviour.

Drop your questions and setups below 👇

Happy hashing! ⛏