Mine works every single time, hundreds of times. Maybe 5 times of those the audio receiver didn't catch the ir signal. I got another ir blaster and it's flawless. I use smart things though in addition to harmony with ifttt/Ghome. But yeah same issue with volume and channel, i don't even try. Luckily i have Cortana on Xbox one who does that in mean Time. Just have to remember which Lady to ask :/.