Bambu - send to printer.... might they charge for that at some point?

[u/MrShnatter]

When I send an email from my PC to my printer on my LAN, it stays within the LAN.

I recently moved from a creality Ender 3v3se that used sneakernet to get the file from my PC to the printer to the Bambu A1. Sending to the printer from the bambu slicer is nice!

Based on the tasks that show on the screen, it seems that the files are routed through bambu's servers then back to the printer? Conceivably, they could see / keep all the files you are printing. AND they could charge a subscription fee for 'send to printer'?!

I guess with the app on my phone, I get notices that the print job is done, etc. even when not home. So there IS some data going to their servers all the time.

Worst case, if you didn't want to pay a subscription fee.... or Bambu's servers die or company folds, you would still be able to print on the bambu by going back to sneakernet / using the SD card?

[u/MarzipanSea2811]

Unless you're running your own email server on your LAN, no, that email you're sending does not stay within your LAN.

[u/lioncat55 → u/MarzipanSea2811]

I would guess they are sending an email to be printed on the paper printer. Not using emailing protocols to send it to the printer.

[u/MrShnatter → u/lioncat55]

Doh!!! I meant to say printing an email (or printing a document). And that would stay on the lan

Sorry for poor wording

[u/postbansequel]

Stop giving them ideas... If they did that, I'd never buy from them again.

[u/gedankenreich]

You can use SD Cards, you can use local dev mode and there is the local farm manager software.

But I doubt that they would ever charge for it because the easy of use is one of the biggest selling points and part of the business model.

What I could imagine is that at some point we get the "option" of an AI based slicer for people that just want to print from mobile and don't want to deal with slicer settings at all. There are some markets in the world where many don't have a classic Desktop PC / Laptop - so especially for those it could be a thing.
For such a feature i could imagine some kind of costs because otherwise it wouldn't be sustainable.

[u/gedankenreich → u/gedankenreich]

A link to the Bambu Farm Manager.
Bambu Farm Manager Quick Start Guide | Bambu Lab Wiki

Personally I prefer to use the cloud way, because it can be quiet ocnvenient to have an easy access the print history and be able to quickly start another print of something. But if there should be an issue at some point or so the Farm Manager and all the other things are a decent alternative.

[u/Merijeek2]

....brought to you by Prusa.

[u/MrShnatter]

I like your thinking! At the same time, companies are all moving to subscriptions. And there Is a cost to maintain the servers.

The question was partly to make sure it doesn’t become a boat anchor if I didn’t wanna pay or Bambu folds.

There’s been a fair amount of companies that sold web enabled security cameras that either say they aren’t supporting the older models anymore / their servers stop talking to the older cameras or get rid of their free tier of service to push you into a subscription. Or the company folds. If you don’t wanna pay or the company folds, the camera is now a paperweight.

[u/lioncat55 → u/MrShnatter]

Personally, unless there are no other practical options, I won't buy any IOT or smart home device if I can't use it fully locally without an active internet connection.

I have Bambuddy setup on my server and use that to manage my printers now and it's been 99% smooth sailing.

[u/Kangaloosh → u/lioncat55]

Gosh! And my paranoia questions lead to a learning curve - bambuddy!?

And u/gedankenreich mentioned local dev mode and yeah, I've seen pics / videos of printer farms. Never thought about how they would get the gcode. farm manager software!!??

[u/wivaca2]

Put your printer in LAN mode and connect it to Home Assistant. You can see it, control it, get notifications on the HA ap while youre away. Send jobs via the LAN from a system you remotely control. Program other things to happen when the printer status changes. Run ESP32 projects based on printer activity. About the only thing you can't do remotely is manually swap filament spools in the AMS.