If it’s a device inside my house and I can’t communicate with it exclusively over the local network, hard fucking pass. Goes double for “smart” home stuff. Triple for printers that handle your sensitive documents.
We’ve figured out how to do this since before the cloud fucking existed. If a company is pushing the cloud as a way to control local devices, they have ulterior motives.
The only logical conclusion to everything depending on “the internet” (read: ‘depending on everything’) is that nothing works.
So glad I saw this before finally getting around to buying one. This is annoying but I am not surprised with the enshitification of everything nice going on in the world.
Be wary of any product that requires or even just advertises “the cloud” as a primary feature.
No set of features or improvements over other options is worth being vendor-locked to a shitty company that makes unrepairable hardware that needs to call home and scrape your data to function.
For a semi open source alternative, Qidi Plus 4 has great hardware. However their QC is not nearly Bambu tier so having to replace a part is possible.
I have 2 qidi max 3s. They have been awesome.
Another good write up on the subject https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/comments/1i3gq1t/why_you_should_care_about_bambu_labs_removing/
Don’t update your printer’s firmware: Bambu will likely be tracking download and installation counts. Make it clear you won’t run this firmware.
Contact Bambu Lab: Politely express your concerns using their support portal. Make it clear that you value open access and will not accept this change.
Vote with Your Wallet: Pause any purchases of Bambu Lab products or consumables and consider alternatives. If the change goes through, weigh selling your printer or avoiding updates.
Withdraw Your Support on MakerWorld: If you’re a creator, remove or relocate your models to other platforms and consider cashing out exclusive points.
Spread the Word: Share this issue widely to ensure others are informed and can join the pushback.
Wasn’t it that even their spools are vendor lock-in since the beginning?
I like how fast and seemingly reliable those printers work, but I never considered buying one.
Their filament has RFID tags that contain the optional print settings for that filament, such as model temperature, bed temperature, etc. The RFID reader only exists on the AMS, and doesn’t actively block 3rd party filament from being used. The tag is on the spool itself, so even if they did block filament, you could just transfer it to a Bambu spool.
It actually looks like the private key has been extracted now, so it’s kind of game over as far as blocking 3td party tools. https://hackaday.com/2025/01/19/bambu-connects-authentication-x-509-certificate-and-private-key-extracted/
You can use non bamboo spools with their printers, idk about using bamboo filament in other printers though
