Not heard good news about ANY ip controlled ATV (although just this morning read that Savants IP control is good).

Yes, ALL apple tv's respond to IR control. On the newer ones (4th gen and above) you have to teach the commands via the settings menu under remote. IR control is flawless. IP, not so much is my undertanding, if it can even be done as there are many control systems that dont offer it, yet.

That said, there is ZERO need for even using an Apple TV anymore with Roku being superior, aside from if the customer has itunes library they purchased or the like.