My Apple TV Remote Is Slowing Down

Sorry for the long post. I’m angry and feeling snarky. I have had my ATV for a couple of years now and I’ve always had problems with the remote, but now I have to use my phone as the remote. It got so bad at one point I called apple and they told me to restart and reset my tv. I did and it fixed for like 5 minutes so they wouldn’t send me a new one. It either slows down and lags or it doesn’t recognize me pressing and tapping it at all. The buttons work better, but are delayed too. When I use my phone it’s like there is no problem. It’s really annoying and the only fix I have found so far is from a 2009 forum saying you should put a piece of paper in front of the ir sensor, but for starters, that’s super ghetto and it doesn’t even work because I tried. Any real solutions would be immensely appreciated!