[conradev]

> I wish Zwave/zigbee were more practical to use.

That is essentially what Thread is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_(network_protocol)

It takes the Zigbee protocol, but adds encryption and makes devices IP-adressable. All of the major players are committed to supporting it, too!

[xxpor]

That's not entirely what I mean though. The real issue is having people like my parents get used to using a hub.

[conradev]

Totally. I believe that one of the goals of thread is to integrate the “border router” capability into newer routers