The main reason I wrote this software
I'm using SageTV server on my HTPC to stream Live TV from my set-top box to other computers at home. My experience with the built-in USB-UIRT support in SageTV is disappointing to say the least. No matter how I tried to tweak the settings, it just would not reliably change channels. That's not all, channel changing is the only function SageTV offers. Since the set-top box is turned off when not in use, I could not let SageTV power it up when I needed, let alone switch the inputs on my A/V receiver among other things.
Since I stream TV to other computers on my LAN, and even over the Internet using the SageTV placeshifter, I also needed to be able to remotely control my equipment over a network connection. That's why I wrote the Remote Control Server software and decided to add network support to the Remote Control GUI program.
If you have similar needs, don't hesitate to try out the software.