Please make LAN MODE ONLY usable!

I can’t use the “cloud” service (like many people on earth) due to the network policy and security policy at my company (as in many companies, offices or schools) - so I have to use “LAN only mode” on my Bambu X1.

And there are simple questions - WHY?!
Why can’t I connect to the printer’s camera in “LAN only” mode while on a local network that has high bandwidth? And at the same time (if I was connected to the Internet) - the webcam works poorly and with low fps, the image is nasty - because the internet bandwidth is too low?
Why can’t I connect the phone to the printer (which is found by the application on the phone, which is in the same wifi and local network)? I wish I could view the print status from my phone, not necessarily “anywhere in the world” - but being in the same building!
Why can’t I access the contents of the card with BambuStudio (movies and timelapses, because tidying up the g-codes on the card would be an excessive pleasure?) in the printer, although I can connect with an external FTP client! I can control the temperature, even the light - but I can’t turn on the camera?

I already omit - that access to the contents of the printer’s memory could be via the SMB protocol, but ok - FTP is also good, as long as it works.

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I assume they designed the printer around the idea of being cloud born and have only recently added the feature for LAN printing. Currently the camera still requires authentification from the cloud service to stream its content to an application, that is why it currently is not supported in LAN only mode.
I think (but do not know) that the feature will be added in a later update, but was just not finished in time as it might require bigger changes to the printers firmware.

I work in as an engineer in IT and I am glad they did not implement SMB on the printers. It is a terrible, buggy, and heavily unsecure protocol which should best be put to a graveyard. While sFTP isn’t really modern and would not have been my choice of protocol, it still is not any worse then SMB and at least available on every operating system, and with a reboot of the printer after enabling it, it worked for me.

talking about camera - why it cannot be like “normal IP camera”, rtsp:// stream - like 2.99$ aliexpress cameras can be?

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No idea honestly, but they would still need to be concerned with security, so an auth mechanism would still be required if they take it seriously. Maybe thats the reason.

I guess we will see in the next months if they make it available.

It’s still some Chinese security concept :wink:
The camera (from which at worst - someone will see that I am printing “benchy” etc) is super closely guarded. And it doesn’t use rstp, although the rstp protocol is used all over the world in IP cameras in cctv monitoring of the most guarded objects, and it’s ok … but it’s not suitable here.

And at the same time - temperature settings and printer movement, which (acting in a bad way) could cause, for example, a fire - it is less guarded, we can get through the local network, it does not have to be verified and authorized through china cloud - it is enough if you have printer key (code) …

As I said, I have no idea why they didn’t simply go to rtsp, but I see no reason why it could not be added via a firmware update to the printer.

I have now spent more than 100 hours troubleshooting LAN mode for the P1P and working with a developer on GitHub Bambu Studio.

The problem is that the networking code is in a proprietary dll and it doesn’t handle errors correctly.

I also submitted a long support request related to the issue.

Networking has been a huge problem with Bambu Lab printers from day 1. Cloud problems, lack of security, poor Lan Mode connectivity.

Please, everyone submit a support ticket for this. Lets get Bambu lab to open source the network code so that we can fix it if they don’t.

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Can’t speak for the P1P, but not had a single network issue with the X1C yet.

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I find this to be a very “noisy” IOT device.

https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/general/printer-network-ports

I am not well versed in IOT or MQTT, but based on wireshark and reading about MQTT, I am sure it is not working correctly, has poor settings for ping times and timeouts and some other problems. As my expertise is mostly backend server side for non-IOT networking, I don’t know how to decrypt the TLS packets and see what is actually being sent with MQTT.

I am sure that if I could look at the code that is in the bambu_network.dll I could identify the lack of error checking that causes the crashes and hangs in Bambu Studio.

In addition, there is no way to tell Bambu studio to run in lan only mode, so it is constantly trying to connect to various bambu lab servers and cloud locations. When a device is set up in lan only mode and Studio knows about it then it should automatically connect when Studio is started.

I hated the fact that I had to install Handy on my phone to connect the printer to WIFI before I could even set it to LAN mode. I don’t want a phone app, and my normal LAN for the printer is not internet connected.

Grrr. :frowning:

As an aside, I am not even sure that a 3D printer that constantly transfers models, etc. should even be considered an IOT device. It is so much different than setting the temp for a thermostat and checking the temp and humidity periodically.

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Yeah it’s one of the top ten devices on my network. Lots of Tx retries.

Cloud usage is one of the reasons why I didn’t buy a Bambulab printer.
I am interested in their features but I am fed up why all these cloud stuff everywhere for everything.

ssh protocol (ssh/scp/sftp) is known enough to provide a decent and secured access to the printer.
One can tunnel other protocols in it if needed and there are clients for several OS available.

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The cloud part almost kept me from buying, but I took a chance that I could get it to work in LAN only mode.

I am using my P1P on a LAN with no internet access. In spite of all the little glitches, it prints very well and fast. Some days I am frustrated and not sure why I bought it. Other days I wish I had two of them.

Other than the initial setup when you connect the printer to your local WIFI, you can do everything else LAN only.

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I wouldn’t be so annoyed with the cloud stuff if it actually worked reliably. The latest firmware update seems to have helped, but about 50% of the time the live view stream doesn’t work. Note that the printer is connected, the ‘printing progress’ updates correctly. The live stream sits ‘connecting’ for minutes, then stops. Rinse and repeat. This is really, really annoying because it means I have to periodically walk to where the printer is, several rooms away, to be sure the print is working. BTW, I did have to add some rules to my SonicWall firewall for the Bambu, but if you’re in a corporate environment, good luck.

Oh, and the error code it reports, -13, isn’t listed on the debug page. Sigh.