@agnes.zooz: All of our switches, even VER. 1.0 were always Z-Wave Plus and network wide inclusion was part of that protocol so they should all support it.
I assume this was not part of the specification at the time these devices were designed, as the provided documentation specifically mentions bringing the hub as close to the switches as possible, which would not be needed with NWI (as I understand it).
@SmartHomePrimer: Have you tried removing the Aeon v1 HEMs from the mesh?
Yes, first thing I did was remove the HEM. It didn't seem to be causing problems (other than getting responses from devices 2-4 times with it plugged in), but I removed it anyways just to be sure.
@bcopeland: I would put money on interference from an analog source.. Maybe it's even at a neighbor's house.. The symptoms and the layout.. I would bet it would be obvious with a spectrum analyzer..
I actually have a RTL2832U based USB dongle, but can't get the RTL driver to work :(. I will say the two houses beside my home are currently vacant, so the closest house is at least 100ft away. I thought about what else I have that's wireless, and remembered my Roku remote is RF; I cant find anything on the specs page, but I "THINK" it runs 2.4GHz. We have Time of Use meters as well, and they transmit power usage somehow ... might be 900MHz. I've also recently been hunting for ~50w of parasitic draw in my house, so maybe someone has a transmitter installed somewhere ;).
@jeubanks: Would be nice if ALL devices are mentioned and provided in the nice drawing and not cherry pick of what to display and ask about.
No cherry picking, the HEM is removed from the network, and turned off. The only devices on my ZWave network that are mains-powered were listed. If it matters, the other devices are a Monoprice door switch, a Utilitech water sensor, a Schlage deadbolt, and a Zooz 4-in-1 sensor ... but I was of the opinion that they're not part of the "mesh".
Ok, so the new theory is that the Zooz signal isn't very strong for some reason, since adding a repeater 7' away in the same room is resolving some problems. Potentially the issue is the fact they're installed in electrical boxes that are made of metal, which is a very surprising limitation if true. Adding these Zooz devices was intended to eliminate random repeaters plugged in everywhere; apparently not so much. I'd probably sooner just sell these switches and buy something better than go back to repeaters installed everywhere.
New plan: I am going to pull the switches out of the wall and see if that fixes anything (aka: eliminating the boxes as interference), which would confirm the "weak signal" postulate. If it does, then I will consider replacing the boxes with plastic ones (a huge pain, since the wires are nailed to the joists, and the boxes are nailed / plastered into place), or replacing the switches with higher strength devices.
Thanks for all the insight everyone, seems like I'll need to do some more research.