One important reason for me to buy an X1E was to be independent of the Bambu Cloud Service and operate the printer without any connection to the internet.
To my surprise, in LAN Only Mode, I find the following limitations (which, btw, are the same as in the X1C):
no firmware update possible
the files on the printer’s micro SD card cannot be accessed from Bambu Studio
k values for custom filaments cannot be assigned in the Device tab of Bambu Studio (or in the printer directly), although they were saved in the printer and can be retrieved in the Calibration tab
the videos recorded on the SD card have wrong timestamps, counting upwards from the last time the printer was connected to the internet
When asked when they are planning to remove these restrictions, Bambu Lab’s support writes:
Unfortunately, none of these 4 functions will be enabled in the LAN mode very soon.
For firmware updates, this is never enabled in our printers, and even for X1E, the printer still needs to be connected to the network to receive the firmware update.
And for the other 3 functions, currently, no processes are on-going on the R&D side in making them alive in Lan mode.
I apologize if this may cause any incovenience.
The X1E was promoted as a printer for customers with increased security requirements, which is underlined by the possibility to physically disable or remove the network module. In LAN Only Mode the printer has a limited functionality and, in the long run, an outdated firmware. In my opinion this contradicts Bambu Lab’s statement „Fully Functional With LAN Only Mode“ on the product’s site.
I wish Bambu Lab would address this issue very soon.
Yup!!! That has been the customary response that I’ve become accustomed to. They advertised one thing and then very quietly walk back or simply ignore the promises they make in their literature. But hey, let’s just give them a free pass, right?
So far, my experience was that Bambu Lab was trying to improve things which were not yet optimal. For example, they promised to enable the camera view in LAN only mode and that’s what they did.
All the more am I surprised that this huge difference between promised feature (full functionality) and reality does not seem to bother them at all.
My experience with LAN only mode not functioning reliably on release 1.05 firmware was complete denial by Bambu that there was a problem.
Let’s be candid, this is a 3d printer and not a life support system. Bambu can get away with making such claims because the market isn’t large enough to attract judicial notice. And since nobody ever died from a broken 3D printer promise, it’s unlikely that anyone will take up the cause. Hell, it took the US Justice Dept seven years to file suit against Apple today and that I believe was solely due to the pressure they must have felt from the recent EU fine against Apple. What hope do we have of anyone noticing fraudulent claims in an industry that is likely under a few hundred million when a 100Billion industry gets away with robbery each and every day?
None of the “features” that are missing stop it from being a “fully functional” printer. Its not false advertising, its just word semantics. It is a fully functioning printer, just not fully “featured”. Thats how they get away with neutering it unfortunately.
It’s not quite fully functional. I’ve currently got a 3ML that it won’t print but that works on an X1C. I’ve got an open ticket and they have reproduced the problem, but I’m not hopeful that it will get fixed anytime soon.
There’s really no excuse for not being able to read the SD card over the LAN.
Were you able to customize your network settings? I just tried five times or more, and I know that I am setting valid settings for IP address, mask and gateway. There is no internet available to my printer, and I want to keep it that way. I just want a local, manually-configured (customized) IPv4 connection to my laptop. The X1E allows my settings, then after I touch confirm, it simply goes back to being DHCP. It is maddening.
I used it in Auto mode so far, and just tried Customized settings, both of them work. My printer has no internet access.
Some weeks ago, I was completely unable to connect to the printer, no matter which settings I tried, it said Failed to connect to the printer. After several nerve-wrecking hours, it worked again, for no obvious reason.
To me the worst and only really bad part is the lack of firmware updates without going through them, e.g. no SD card or SSH push from local LAN. I’ve been using the base firmware without nay major problems on a completely isolated network and it is livable.
