The setup I am going to try:

Umbrel on a mini PC Alby Hub + Alby Go Zues

Wumbo's personal advice:

• Start with a full PC. Don't go the raspberry Pi route. You can find a used mini pc on amazon for $200. Which is faster than raspberry pi
• Start9 OS is good option for the OS. Nothing wrong with umbrel but supports limited chip sets.
• When in doubt open a few large channels vs many small channels.
• When vetting who to open channel to, look at Average Age Channel and recent closed channels of nodes that you are thinking of connecting to. You want avg age to be large (they keep channels open for a while). For recent closed channels make sure there are not to many force closes. You can use amboss.space as a resource.

When you get a Zeus or Blixt wallet you already have a node, you don't actually need to open a public one unless you want to act as a routing node. By opening channels to an LSP you can use their wrapped invoices and have an extra layer of privacy and keep your sats in self custody without opening another node.

That's my 2 sats

Before you start I would suggest you to read these guides:

• https://darth-coin.github.io/nodes/managing-lightning-node-liquidity-en.html
• https://darth-coin.github.io/nodes/private-ln-nodes-en.html
• https://darth-coin.github.io/nodes/recommendations-ln-node-operators-en.html
• https://darth-coin.github.io/nodes/lightning-node-maintenance-en.html

1. Get an old laptop or desktop computer, with a new SSD
2. Install Ubuntu on it
3. Run Bitcoind and Litd (which includes LND). This is a handy guide: https://www.nodeacademy.org/
4. Start with one or two channels, set your routing fees high and regularly use the node
5. Connect to it from Zeus on your phone via LNC

I'd go with @purpurato on the zeus native all in one node.

I completely ****** my channels yesterday and zeus automatically got all my sats back onchain

Also read @DarthCoin guides.....like I should have 🤦

blixtwallet or zeus

https://docs.megalithic.me/set-up-a-lightning-node/choosing-hardware

I have a basic RasPi 4 running Umbrel and a LND node, plus AlbyHub. Using Alby Go on my phone.

But I'm willing to bet you'd be better off reading @DarthCoin 's write ups.

My setup:

Main: Phoenixd + Alby Hub + Alby Go

Backup: Lightning.pub + Shockwallet (3 minutes setup)

Few days back, I re-setup by full node. I went form RPi 4 + Umbrel to ASUS NUC (32GB, 2TB). I tried Start9 but went back to Umbrel. My concern is, that Start9 is a bit dead (looking into Git statistics). I want something with development. So far the node works pretty well. The RPi was sometime lagging.

Zeus works great and has good UI/UX, that's what i use daily. You don't have to be online 24/7. You can be always online, by leave it running in the background but that will consume a lot of battery.

I am setting up a lightning node for personal use, the primary need is being able to custody my own hot-ish wallet sats and access them from my phone.

One note, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong. StartOS one real downside is remote access from what I have seen. Umbrel makes it VERY easy to set up Tailscale and remotely access your node via VPN using the Zeus wallet app.

I mention this because you point out using your phone and I'm still trying to figure out a good mobile access besides Tor for StartOS.

I think a channel with Phoenix or ASINQ nodes would be a good idea.