Contour 2 remote interference issues

So I love the contour 2.  It works perfectly in my bedroom but the living room is a different story.  

The installer had issues when he installed the living room main box in that the remote would recognize the voice control, yet would not recognize commands unless you stood right beside the cable box.  The cable box is in a closet with the rest of my equipment and goes the Tv mounted above the fireplace through hdmi.  It's about a 20 ft distance.  I have to push on the remote really hard to change channels by the buttons and the voice commands are all but  useless.  The installer tried 4 different removes.  All did the same.  

The cox installer said he would look into it and that he had never seen it

Has anyone experienced this and if so your solutions?