Ok... STOP !

Before you burn your retina... please note that all lasers emit harmful IR radiation and should not be used in this application.

sounds to me that you are not using the correct Lens for the IR LED and Receiver.

Please read this thread http://www.lasertagparts.com/mtoptics.htm

for you to actually transmit data with a real laser you would need an infrared laser which is Extremely dangerous because of the concentrated amount of invisible IR radiation.

Please read this topic on Why IR is bad