Question Trying to find a secure, yet simple way to connect Bambu 3D printer to the Internet.

[Jim Weitz]

I just bought a Bambu X1 Carbon. It requires an internet connection. I have Wi-Fi, but both of my PCs use wired connections. I am thinking I can set up a guest Wi-Fi connection for the Bambu to connect to the internet. I use one PC mainly for 3D designs and slicing, and that PC has a wired network connection. Currently I just use an SD card to transfer gcode to my Prusa, but being able to send files directly from my PC to the printer is a great new option. Question #1, is a guest Wi-Fi secure enough to keep my other PCs on the network secure from Bambu's access? Question #2, Since I DO use one PC for designing and slicing, can I disable the ethernet connection and enable the Wi-Fi without disconnection the ethernet cable? The designing and slicing rarely requires and actual ethernet connection, just on occasion when it is connected to my VR headset. Any opinions, advice, would be greatly appreciated. I am anxious to get this issue resolved so I can fire this bad boy up and start printing.

 

[bill001g]

I really hate stuff that requires connection to the internet. Why does it actually need to be connected most 3d printers can create stuff from a file. Does it not function without a internet.

No easy way to isolate and still let it sometimes have access to 1 pc. Guest wifi on most routers is designed to only allow the guest devices to get to the internet but have no access to either ethernet or wifi connected devices in your house.

If you allow access to any machine on the local lan you allowed all access to all machines.

You would really need a firewall to accomplish this but home routers that have firewall feature do not have a way to limit traffic going to other lan users. Although messy what you could do is put in a router just for the printer and then connect that to your main router. At this point it can still get to all you machine since from its viewpoint your equipment is also on the internet. You could then put in firewall rules to restrict it. You might want to put in rules for its actual internet access to limit it to only sites it really has to have access to.

 

[Jim Weitz]

Yes, the idea that everything we own must be connected to 'the cloud' is crazy. I normally avoid all this stuff, but this is a fantastic printer, and will increase my capacity immensely.

I could transfer the print files via SD card the old way, that's totally possible, but there are firmware updates the printer will need, and they are only available over the internet. The way I picture this in my head, is disconnecting the PC I use for 3D printing from the main network and connecting it to the internet only via the guest Wi-Fi, the Bambu to the guest Wi-Fi, and an old phone I have to the guest Wi-Fi as well. The phone would be used to monitor the printer when I'm not home. I'd end up with a guest network with 3 devices connected to it, and they would only connect to the internet. Nothing local.

I did think about a second router connected to my current router, (ASUS RT-AX550) but I'm definitely not a network wiz by any stretch of the imagination. I appreciate your help.

 

[bill001g]

If the router manufacture did their guest network correctly it will not work. It is not a "network" really. It actually uses the same IP subnet pool as your main network. It in effect is a network that ONLY allows access to the internet. The feature they use is called client isolation and it will be set on the guest network. This will prevent guest wifi devices from talking to each other.

The dirty trick you could try if you can set static ip/gateway etc on the printer is to either leave the gateway field blank or set it to some non existant IP. Since the gateway tells it where your router is and its path to the internet if it is invalid then the printer can not get to the internet but it can get to other devices on the local lan. You could then when you need it to connect to the internet change the gateway and limit your exposure time as much as you can.

 

[USAFRet]

The Bambu talks WiFi?

You should be able to connect to it from your PC, through your router. No internet needed.

 

[Jim Weitz]

Wow, you saved me a lot of time trying to figure out this error the printer just now gave me, says the phone and printer weren't on the same network. Although I just set up the guest network. I'll look into this gateway, the printer only asks for the network name and password, so I don't think that's an option. I'll keep poking around.

 

[Jim Weitz]

The Bambu talks WiFi?

You should be able to connect to it from your PC, through your router. No internet needed.

That's the catch. It needs the internet but I don't want Bambu, (former DJI execs) to access all the stuff it outlines in the user agreement that lives on my network. Not that I've go any top secret stuff, I'm only making small things for friends and friends of friends. I'm not worried about them stealing any of my designs or anything like that.

 

[USAFRet]

Wow, you saved me a lot of time trying to figure out this error the printer just now gave me, says the phone and printer weren't on the same network. Although I just set up the guest network. I'll look into this gateway, the printer only asks for the network name and password, so I don't think that's an option. I'll keep poking around.

Thats what I do with my Ender 3 S1 and the Sonic Pad control module.

The PC is wired, the Sonic Pad is WiFi.
Both talking to the same router and subnet.

 

[Jim Weitz]

I turned on the Access Intranet options in my routers guest config, phone and printer talked, t got the firmware update, and it was off the the races. Then I turned the access intranet option off. That should work for now anyway.