I must have confused that with something else then. Either way, my whole motivation for getting it was based on forum discussions. First, the signal boosting due to MyDMX hardware not putting out a full strength signal was a major concern. Then, the rest just flat out made sense: splitting, repeating, boosting, isolation, 3/5 wire conversion(either in, and both out). It's just sounded foolish to me to not have one.
Either way, the opto Branch-4 is a great bit of hardwaer, and I think anyone of us who is serious about their lighting, this is a bit of "must have" gear. For what it does, man, it's cheap. Good gear, well made, durable, rugged and priced way low. Solves problems and expands options. Without this unit, my lighting couldn't evolve to where it needed to be.
Ideally, I'd like to own a second one to install stage-side, but right now, in my current configuration, there's no room in the rack that lives at the stage.