Comment by mrdoosun
8 hours ago
The important part here is not just printer support, but whether users can keep using hardware they already own without depending on a vendor cloud path.
Local network support tends to look like a convenience feature until it disappears. Then it becomes obvious that it was part of the ownership model.
> whether users can keep using hardware they already own without depending on a vendor cloud path.
That’s a complete misunderstanding of the current state of affairs. Bambu didn’t take away local network support, and you can use any Bambu printer without any cloud or internet connection.
What you can’t do is use a 3rd party slicer with their cloud servers…
> Bambu didn’t take away local network support
Yes they did. Chronology is important because it speaks to their motives. First they blocked Orca slicer and others from connecting to the printer even when the printer is running in LAN-only mode. Due to extensive backlash they later split "LAN mode" into "Standard mode LAN mode" and "Developer mode LAN mode".
The former, officially recommended, "secure" mode would prevent Orca slicer and others from using the printer.
"Developer mode LAN mode" dropped all form of access control (including existing access code + serial number pairing mechanism), leaving users completely exposed - any device on your network, and any process on your machine can freely take control of the printer. They simultaneously absolved themselves of all customer support responsibilities for anyone using this mode.
They also abandoned all work on features and bugs related to LAN mode (whether they affect standard mode or developer mode). Bambu Slicer is plagued by basic connectivity and usability issues that only affect LAN mode, feature parity is not there and there's been quite literally zero activity on any of the issues I've been following.