Wiimote Distance

[Vampyr]

So a couple of days ago I finally bought a Wii. I ordered it from Toys R Us during one of the rare occasions they had one in stock, and it arrived yesterday. So far I've really been enjoying it, I have Brawl, Wii Sports, and Fire Emblem (will have my wii code up soon).

However, I think I might be having a problem with the sensor bar. The motion sensing and pointer functionality only works at a really short range, like 5 - 6 feet. Any further than that, and the little hand drops off the screen completely. I have two wiimotes, and they both do it, so I know it's not an issue with the remote, it's something to do with the sensor bar. I have synced the wiimotes several times, but nothing has fixed it. I thought maybe it was supposed to be that way, but Wikipedia says that the pointer and motions sensing functionality should work at least 16 feet away.

Can anyone think of some setting that I could have messed up, or any idea why it would be behaving this way? The batteries are brand new, the ones that came with the remotes.

Thanks.