Jimmythekid Posted January 28 Posted January 28 Hello, Long time lurker, first time poster. The DT department at my school is trying to keep their makerbot replicator 2 alive but for the life of me I cannot find a way to make it work with modern systems without using SD cards. They are after a 3D printing solution that can use USB tethering for ease of use (and to stop students stealing SD cards) I am looking for suggestions on which would work best. Thank you in advance
machy Posted January 28 Posted January 28 Whatever from Bambu labs that's in your budget is a good option, based purely on the basis it will just work 2
Davit2005 Posted January 28 Posted January 28 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jimmythekid said: Hello, Long time lurker, first time poster. The DT department at my school is trying to keep their makerbot replicator 2 alive but for the life of me I cannot find a way to make it work with modern systems without using SD cards. They are after a 3D printing solution that can use USB tethering for ease of use (and to stop students stealing SD cards) I am looking for suggestions on which would work best. Thank you in advance TBH SD Card is prob the easiest way. A PC will need to be used and install app then that PC will need access to the 3D printer over WiFi to send jobs. Some printers do not even have USB connections anymore and it is only able to receive 3d print jobs from WiFi. If the printer is compatible with Octoprint and has a USB connection that might be an alternative more and more printers are not these days Edited January 28 by Davit2005
FragglePete Posted January 28 Posted January 28 My only advice from the 3D Printer we have here, is that if you have SD Card only and your Windows devices incorporate Bitlocker-to-go - then you'll need to think of another way of getting the data file onto the SD Card. We have ours on the Wi-Fi, but then the issue becomes that normal PCs on the network are ACL'd from contacting the Wi-Fi Devices, so we have one specific macine that is used from printing that 'sits' on the Wi-Fi network (VLAN) but is hardwired. Ideally, a 3D Printer with NIC Card would be my ideal solution - almost treat it like a printer.... well, I guess it is... ! Pete
DalekSec Posted January 28 Posted January 28 As a 3D printer at home and at work, If you want the printers just to work: Bambu Labs If you want to learn how a printer works: Prusa Both have software to easily manage print loads, Bambu depends on the model 1
Davit2005 Posted January 28 Posted January 28 3 hours ago, DalekSec said: As a 3D printer at home and at work, If you want the printers just to work: Bambu Labs If you want to learn how a printer works: Prusa Both have software to easily manage print loads, Bambu depends on the model 2nd this. I ran a Prusa MK3 at home from 2020 to 2024, bought a Bambu Labs X1c in 2025. I only use the Prusa if I have something I am confident printing if my X1c is printing at the time. I like the Prusa becuase it works with OctoPrint, I don't like the Bambu Labs because it is a lot more proprietary and locked down. But hands down the Bambu Labs is more reliable not to mention quicker.
RobFuller Posted February 15 Posted February 15 We’re looking at purchasing several Bambu Lab printers and I’m considering whether to enforce the use of the fleet management (local) software rather than the cloud platform. The main reason is usability for multiple staff members — it avoids sharing accounts and makes printer access easier to manage. I’m aware this means losing phone access and having to export jobs from the desktop software and manually upload the files, but that feels like a reasonable trade‑off. From a GDPR and security perspective, I’m more comfortable with this approach, particularly regarding camera access and general data security. Overall, it seems like a cleaner and safer setup for a multi‑user environment. Would be interested to hear how others have handled this.
cheekycharly Posted March 4 Posted March 4 On 15/02/2026 at 11:55, RobFuller said: We’re looking at purchasing several Bambu Lab printers and I’m considering whether to enforce the use of the fleet management (local) software rather than the cloud platform. The main reason is usability for multiple staff members — it avoids sharing accounts and makes printer access easier to manage. I’m aware this means losing phone access and having to export jobs from the desktop software and manually upload the files, but that feels like a reasonable trade‑off. From a GDPR and security perspective, I’m more comfortable with this approach, particularly regarding camera access and general data security. Overall, it seems like a cleaner and safer setup for a multi‑user environment. Would be interested to hear how others have handled this. Hi Rob, Our school's science department just got a Bambu P2S, and it sounds like you were pondering the same thing I am currently. I am currently looking at how many Chinese.cn communications there is, and the fact it wants Amazon AWS fully open, so I am looking at the LAN-only option on the device. I noticed the built-in camera doesn't work in LAN-only mode, but I think there is a slider I need to tick to enable this (hopefully), as this is the only thing we would miss. We won't be using the Bambu app; we will be using it from their slicing software on a small handful of Windows laptops at the beginning. How have your experiences been with it so far?
Zbd Posted March 4 Posted March 4 On 28/01/2026 at 14:28, Davit2005 said: 2nd this. I ran a Prusa MK3 at home from 2020 to 2024, bought a Bambu Labs X1c in 2025. I only use the Prusa if I have something I am confident printing if my X1c is printing at the time. I like the Prusa becuase it works with OctoPrint, I don't like the Bambu Labs because it is a lot more proprietary and locked down. But hands down the Bambu Labs is more reliable not to mention quicker. I have a Prusa Core One at home and my dad has a Bambu P1P. speed and reliability is about the same between them. Price is a LOT better with the Bambu though, with the trade off with them being more proprietary and locked down (& more phone home connections back to China). 1
RobFuller Posted March 4 Posted March 4 1 hour ago, cheekycharly said: Hi Rob, Our school's science department just got a Bambu P2S, and it sounds like you were pondering the same thing I am currently. I am currently looking at how many Chinese.cn communications there is, and the fact it wants Amazon AWS fully open, so I am looking at the LAN-only option on the device. I noticed the built-in camera doesn't work in LAN-only mode, but I think there is a slider I need to tick to enable this (hopefully), as this is the only thing we would miss. We won't be using the Bambu app; we will be using it from their slicing software on a small handful of Windows laptops at the beginning. How have your experiences been with it so far? Just waiting for the printers to arrive at the moment, using a A1 AMS at home and love the thing. Considering getting one just for the IT department as started printing a lot for work at home.
Davit2005 Posted March 4 Posted March 4 2 hours ago, cheekycharly said: Hi Rob, Our school's science department just got a Bambu P2S, and it sounds like you were pondering the same thing I am currently. I am currently looking at how many Chinese.cn communications there is, and the fact it wants Amazon AWS fully open, so I am looking at the LAN-only option on the device. I noticed the built-in camera doesn't work in LAN-only mode, but I think there is a slider I need to tick to enable this (hopefully), as this is the only thing we would miss. We won't be using the Bambu app; we will be using it from their slicing software on a small handful of Windows laptops at the beginning. How have your experiences been with it so far? This is the issue with Bambu labs, I beleive that most new ones do not support any local connection and all via cloud.
cheekycharly Posted March 13 Posted March 13 Tried the Bambu P2S for the first time yesterday, and it did a smashing job printing out its "Bed Scraper". The built-in camera gives the students a way to write up about their creation and embed the timelapse within it using something like Canva.
DalekSec Posted March 13 Posted March 13 Just started off the biggest print yet on our 2 X1Es, 8 days of printing (4 on each), 35 parts across 16 beds, with 3000m of filament....
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