I think your issue is the light o/p of the led, try and get a dead remote and salvage the infra red led from it, they tend to be high o/p.
Also I found with the tssop devices you need to filter the supply, try a 100r resistor in series with the + supply and a 100u cap across the tssop power supply pins.
You should be able to get 10 to 15 meters, in fact you might need to put the tssop in a tube as light may well pass round a person and keep the o/p active.
Edit: One last thing a tssop device's o/p will not stay low (active) long as they are capacitively coupled internally, you need to transmit bursts of 38kc's infra red about 1/4 second long with a 1/4 sec gap to keep the o/p low, so you need 2 555's for that, I think I have a link somewhere from someone who's done it.