Reddit reviews Aeon Labs DSD37 Range Extender

Honestly, your cheapest options are to get an actual Zwave repeater or just about any plug-in Zwave device (here's a cheap smart plug).

Alternatively, you can replace any one of those switches with a zwave switch, and upgrade the rest later, as budget allows.

Aeon Z-Wave Repeater, $27 on Amazon Prime.

Doing a quick search, and something like this might also work. Looks like it has decent reviews, and works with Wink.

I'm not aware of any standalone zigbee repeaters, although standalone zwave repeaters exist.

There are three kinds of zigbee nodes: Coordinator (one per network); Routers and End Devices (multiple per network). End-device nodes are typically battery powered and do not work as routers. On the other hand, line powered zigbee devices (GE Link, Cree Connected, Osram Lightify, GE Zigbee switches etc.) all function as repeaters. So to make sure your zigbee mesh works well, just setup a well distributed smattering of devices that work as zigbee routers.

Same for z-wave. While repeaters are available, line powered z-wave devices function as repeaters.

So my suggestions: I've linked the things I use, but they're just suggestions.

• Lighting: Philips hue. This is because you don't want to wire up any new light switches. If you get a starter pack like this one it comes with a light switch you can place on the wall with double sided tape. You just have to teach the people in your house not to use the old switch anymore. In the case of kids rooms, the switch actually pops out of the holder and you could put it on their nightstand or whatnot so they can turn the lights on if they need to. The stand alone accent lights they have are really good as well, I have a few behind my TV that make the room pop somewhat.
  
• Zwave door / window sensors. With the dongle these are more useful then you'd think. If you have these and hue bulbs you could have hall lights turn on at like 10% brightness at night so you can see if you need to get up at night. I use them for my back patio so when I take the dogs out at night the lights automatically turn on, then turn off 15 min later on their own. If you're new to Zwave remember that these sensors do not repeat the signal. In your case since you don't want wire in powered devices you would need to get some repeaters to make sure you have enough signal strength or you won't receive events.
  
• Smart plugs: Weemo are good, but if you don't want to have a whole bunch of different types of devices, zwave would work just as well and it would also help with your signal strength. I actuallly use both in my setup to control things like air-purifiers and I have a few that report how much energy they use so I can automate things like when the dishwasher is running or laundry is done.
  
• Thermostat: I'm not sure if I can help you with that. I use a Nest for my whole house, but sounds like your setup may be different. There are plenty of good zwave thermostats out there you could hook up to this setup tho.
  
  

You can purchase a range extender for about $27. you'll need a power adapter somewhere in your garage near the lights though.

http://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Z-Wave-Extender-Repeater-DSD37-ZWUS/dp/B00K7QZUZM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463517321&sr=8-1&keywords=aeon+labs+range+extender