Unfortunately Smart bulbs, regardless of brand, have provably (verified by ST engineering) turned out to be unreliable zigbee repeaters.
Hue Bridge
Lightbulbs connected to a hue bridge are repeaters–but only for other devices attached to the same bridge. They essentially form their own mini network. So they won’t help with nearby sensors.
Zwave bulbs
Zwave lightbulbs like those from Linear and aeotec typically are repeaters – – but only for Z wave. These can actually be very useful in some specific use cases like getting zwave signal down basement stairs or across a garage.
So that’s turned out to be not a good option for many people.
Typically a pocket socket is the least expensive zigbee repeater since the bulbs are out.
Assuming you’re in the US, there are a few options. Make sure you look for ZHA certified devices, not just zigbee.
http://www.zigbee.org/zigbee-products-2/#zigbeecertifiedproducts/?view_30_filters=[{"field"%3A"field_41"%2C"operator"%3A"is"%2C"value"%3A"551c72aa37b6dfa00fb984a5"}]&view_30_page=1
edited to update I had originally mentioned that Quirky has a $40 one that some people are using with smartThings. But Ray reported below that it has not been a reliable repeater and that smartthings support confirmed that .
At this point, it may be safest to just stick with one of the plug-in ones that is a confirmed zigbee repeater. The Lowe’s iris smart plug is probably the least expensive of these but there are several options.
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