It's not only RF- the old Time-Warner remotes work, too. You can go into the menu to set it up, pair remotes (their new one) and control equipment. Out of the box, it's set up to use IR.

Spectrum isn't stupid enough to use new remotes and boxes that don't work with the old equipment.

I have installed a lot of these new boxes and the majority are using the Spectrum remote, but at least one is using the old remote I programmed years ago and it works flawlessly. I do like the RF capability, though- I didn't want to install a box in a new kitchen and was able to put it on a shelf in the basement, with an HDMI cable going to the TV on the counter. So far, it works great, as long as Spectrum doesn't update the box and shut it off- just another day in the neighborhood when they don't allow us to have discrete power commands.