@Carl 

Thanks for the response. The TLDR; version is I've found an alternative that puts me back in control of the devices and allows me to add advanced management all while disconnected from cloud management. Unfortunately the software isn't a TP-Link product but it works none the less and I'll go this route until there's a better alternative.

A couple of comments to some of your points. Please don't see this post as a criticism of TP-Link's products. As I say below, I really like your hardware, I just think in this case there's room for improvement and would like to see a move beyond _only_ mobile/cloud management.

Let's first dispel with the premise that a closed system means more secure. The open-source community won this debate with Microsoft in the 2000s when Linux started to prove itself as a viable alternative to Windows. Windows is a closed system and it has all the same security issues that you point out in Android. Implementation, market share, app-store control and review, development platforms, and general design have a lot to do with security. Let’s also not forget that both iOS and OSX are also built on open-source platforms (BSD).

I can appreciate the intent to provide a quality product and desire to keep a tight ecosystem but your products are already being reverse engineered by the same open source community you’re criticizing and it hasn't made them any less secure. In fact, if it weren't for their work, I'd still be looking for alternative hardware. Z Wave-based tech has benefitted from projects like Open Z Wave and I’d argue that TP-Link would benefit as well and might even learn something from the thousands of open-source IoT developers that use your products. Give us a try!

I also understand the desire to make a simple-to-use, hub-free, mobile/cloud managed system. They are convenient but doing so has shifted the functional complexity that comes with a hub or software-based system to TP-Link’s cloud offering and created the limitations I’ve pointed out. This is the technical equivalent of a paper straw. Sure, it works, but I’m left looking for something else.

To those recommending Alexa/Google home, I’m glad some people find these technologies useful however I’m among a small number of people that have opted out of these products. Even assuming they could provide some of these feature requests, I’m not sure I see an easy path to the full list of automation options I’m looking for. If you’ve ever used broad home automation technologies, there is a lot that can go in to configuring them and a litany of complex scenarios you might want to configure, the least of which would be the ability to automate more than three devices.

Lastly, I understand that most people simply want the convenience of smart-home devices and put little thought into what comes with that. We're so use to providing personal information and opening our lives up to cloud services providers that we don't think twice about it anymore. The growing list of GDPR-like laws show that there are also a good number of people that, given an the choice, would really rather not give up their personal information, privacy and security if it still allowed them to use smart-home technology. I am among that crowd and, because I found an alternative, have now installed 20+ TP-Link Smart-Home products because they work, they're simple, and I like TP-Link as a company (you make great wireless tech too!). I'm doing it with third-party open-source software, have disconnected all of my TP-Link devices from talking to the open internet, and it hasn’t taken anything away from your products. Consider how much work I’ve saved you in not having to provide me additional services after buying all that. You’re welcome!