It has always been like that, they didn’t intentionally nerf anything. You have never been able to use the camera with LAN mode enabled.
Quite openly said:
European customers bought their BambuLab from BambuLab GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany.
They will fall under the German customer protection laws. Under these laws the customer has a 2 year warranty period - while it comes with some caveats after 6 months these are not relevant here.
During these timeframe a buyer has the right to a functioning product with the features and qualities as bought- this does include side features like the cloud access or the ability to use other slicers, etc.
If Bambu Labs now decides to reduce these features the customer has to demand “repairs” to the state at the time of the sale two times, after that the customer has the right to basically void the contract and ask for their money back.
So if BL follows through with that and this disables features all customers who bought from their EU store within the last two years might have the right to ask for their money back.
And no, cloud access and open access through ApI are both core features that warrant this, multiple large companies like VW, Mercedes and others have already lost these cases in court.
Neither does the “Connect App” invalidate these claims as it still reduces features, requires additional hardware(a working Win/Mac PC),etc.
So…Bambu, I would think really hard again and consider if losing the EU markets at this stage is worth it.
Because there are multiple customer service organisations out there that already keen on this case. Both French and German 3D Printing groups already have posts of users that are in contact with these.
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Noting that I also whole heartedly oppose the new software update being pushed. They’re chaining the terms and conditions of the sale after the sale has occurred. Bambu is implementing unnecessary data collection that can be handled locally. In addition with it being handled locally it’ll alleviate their need to hold server space and thus at some point claim that they need to charge us as they need to run the servers. When in the end it can be handled locally.
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I concur. I paid for it and own it (it is not a lease, it is not a subscription). Who the heck does Bambu think they are to tell me what I can do with a product that I own! My next printer will NOT be a Bambu if this moves forward to the end user. My filament will not be Bambu. My parts will not be Bambu,
Wrong move, Bambu, wrong direction.
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Shame, love bambu and only use their software and filament but if this update goes through. I am out and never touching it again
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I think chargebacks are in Bambu’s future. Removing functionality that came with the product is no different than fraud imo.
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I’m not a new user. I had my P1S for an entire 2 1/2 years and I’ve been printing for 3. I haven’t used the forum much, but that doesn’t mean I’m new. Besides that, I do understand your point and now understand the full impact of the update.
There’s an encrypted key generated by Bambu that is valid for one year. The guy who has decompiled Bambu Connect has demonstrated that. The current key was generated (if I recall correctly) sometime between 12 and 15 December 2024, and it’s valid until 12 to 15 December 2025. If the printer doesn’t receive a new key by then (that means you have to connect to Bambu’s cloud), it would lock itself out (not accepting anymore commands) and your printer becomes a permanent and expensive decoration in your house/workshop… that’s according to the same person who did the decompiling.
See for yourself
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I also have an artistic background and have no interest in tinkering with printers just to get them to work. That’s one of the reasons I stayed away from purchasing my own printer for 10 years and finally bought the X1C because I seemed pretty reliable.
The point of the outrage is simple:
We bought a product under certain terms and we now own that printer. Bambu is now going to change the original terms after we already handed our money over to them. Removing features is bad enough but changing terms after a purchase is dishonest and illegal in many jurisdictions.
It’s like I sell you a car but then 2 years later I enable some silent embedded firmware that makes your car no longer start unless you comply with my new rules, pay for my service, share all your driving records with me, etc… Use your imagination.
The point is, a company should not change the terms of sale after the sale.
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It seems like Bambu has picked a fight with the whole of the printer community and is just daring the world, “Go ahead, you guys can’t do anything”.
Never have I seen this level of arrogance and open hostility to a customer base.
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My prediction: Bambu is going to try to migrate all of us to a subscription/pay-to-print business model (something akin to HP’s crazy “printing subscription” service). They are going to use security as the pretext to implement this (as they all do).
Prusa is looking better every day: I would gladly pay more for printer that respects my rights as a consumer.
I hope Bambu is listening.
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Sadly, I think you are speaking to deaf ears (actually, very much like we all do on this forum). Bambu’s not in the listening mode (never was).
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This is entirely unacceptable:
“Due to the importance of these updates, your product may block new print job before the updates is installed, and will immediately provide update notifications to help you understand the related information.”
Source: bambulab policies/terms
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Your new policy has caused issues, we put a hold on the X1E printers, the A1 Mini we purchased to test, turns out your ‘Warranty’ does not cover your “Anheuser-Busch” goals and your ‘Warranty’ is only 14 days from ‘purchase’ which is a 7 day period after waiting for shipping.
I have removed you software from my workstations and after this post will remove my account from your store, I have copies of the three purchases we made.
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I do not agree with what they did but why would you
1: make this it’s own topic.
2: Put it in the share your prints category.
Also Bambu is very unlikely to respond to this
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The new policy is entirely unacceptable and Bambu Lab will hear this from customers in EVERY channel on EVERY topic until fully resolved.
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No, we still need to be able to use the forum, and Bambu doesn’t really care what people say about it. I don’t want to go on a topic about changing default flow rate and see someone writing a 15 paragraph essay about this.
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Serious question - what is the advantage you get by using the cloud, short of being able to access your printer functions with your phone (which also can be implemented to work offline if BambuLab wanted it - the cloud is not inherently needed for any of that).
Workflow in LAN-only mode:
- You slice your model in a slicer
- You directly connect to the printer and send it the sliced G-code
- The printer prints
- At any point you can inquiry the printer about its status, get the camera feed, get AMS info etc. all that being communicated directly from your printer to your controlling device on the same network
Workflow in cloud mode:
- You slice your model in Bambu Studio
- You send the sliced G-code to BL servers
- Your computer informs the printer that there is a job for it to pull out from the cloud
or your printer periodically check with BL servers if there is something for it to print - The printer prints the given job
- The printer needs to send its status, camera feed and everything else to the BL servers to which then you need to connect in order to see that status or do pretty much everything with the printer
How in the world is the second scenario preferable for anyone, pray tell? What quick support? For anyone who values reliability or quickness, the scenario with lesser steps is obviously preferable - and I’d argue that it’s the most preferable option for anyone, period. It’s just that a lot of people don’t know any better or are willing to put up with the second option as it’s not hindering them too much at the moment.
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Ah, that… Wasn’t aware of it even existing as an option as I don’t use anything cloud when it comes to BL printers. It’s obviously an artificially restricted feature as there is no advantage of having that only in the cloud, quite the contrary…
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I really would like to know who at Bambu Lab did consider this move as feasible and legitimate. Sadly, as of now, I can’t recommend Bambu Lab anymore.
Yes, currently I’m a “casual” User who just like the easy experience of printing models and could ignore this impact.
But at my work, they considered buying a Bambu Lab and I will tomorrow inform them, that they can stop investigate or wait for the mentioned new Q1/2025 Printer. In our company we have a strict on-premise rule and this new firmware will rule out any Bambu Lab printer as possible product.
The only way they could bring back any small amount of trust, would be a full disclosure of the firmware and possible custom firmware. But as mentioned: The trust is broken, the communication was the most terrible approach and the silence is just a bad confirmation.
Let’s hope, that the competition will wake up and do a better job (And learn from this PR disaster).
For now I switch to lan-only mode, disable App Update on Android, set Firewall to restrict the printer to get internet access.
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