AFAIK patrol remotes cannot be used to direct spidertrons manually, only to create waypoints. This mod appears to remove the ability to make regular spidertron remotes, so that means there's no way to manually direct spidertrons to a location. If the remote does replace the default one, there should be some way to use it to direct spidertrons to a location.

No, this mod does not replace the regular remote: it adds the patrol remote so that both remotes are craftable and usable. It does move the regular remote unlock to the spiderling tech so that it can be used straight away when you unlock the spiderling.

If you aren't able to unlock/craft the regular remote then it is probably a mod conflict. Feel free to upload your save game and I can take a look to see if it is something I can fix.

Ah that explains it: I disabled the spiderling in the mod settings (I only enabled patrol remote). It seems like if the spiderling is disabled then the regular remote should be moved to its original tech spot?

Yes, and it is. If you look at your tech tree then it should be there. What was the sequence of events around installing the mod, disabling spiderling, and researching spidertron?

If you don't mind losing achievements you can try /c game.player.force.reset_technology_effects(), which might fix the problem.

I disabled spiderling research from the start, so the tech was never researched. The spidertron tech was already researched since I applied it to an existing save. So it seems like I have to enable the spiderling, research the spiderling tech, then disable it again then I should be good to go.

Yes, that might work. I still don't understand how you got into this position though, because if you applied it to an existing save that had the spidertron tech, then the spidertron remote should also have already been unlocked! (I can confirm this is true through my testing).

Happened to me too.

/c game.player.force.reset_technology_effects()

did not fix the issue.
in my save I have researched spiderling and spidertron tech. but only the patrol remote exists in my game, despite the research screen listing it.
After trial and error I was able to determine that it was a mod conflict. Oddly, the mod with the conflict was 'Shortcuts for 1.1'.

Yeah, Shortcuts for 1.1 removes the standard remote item in favour of a shortcut that adds a temporary remote. If you're able to craft the patrol remote fine then yeah, that's just the other mod, nothing to do with me :)