RFM69HW - 433MHz vs. 915MHz range comparison

[labusr]

Hello,
I have a couple of the 915MHz modules.  They work great. I've only be able to get about 700feet reliable range out of them, but I haven't looked into improving the antenna or lowering the bit rate.

I was wondering if there's been any field testing to compare the range of the 915MHz to the 433MHz modules?  I know others have gotten near 1mile range with the 915MHz without seemingly using any special antennas.  Just a simple dipole antenna with each half of the antenna at 1/4 wavelength (about 3").

Just wondering if it's worth it to switch to a lower frequency chip for a project.

[Felix]

Hmm.. if you do everything "right" you should be able to get near double that with the 915.
I've only mostly used 915 for my own testing and projects since I switched from RFM12B (which were 433).
I think when you get that far, its first of all much harder to test for longer periods of time, second the environment and other factors you cannot control can easily interfere (even humidity, rain, snowfall, moving stuff in between etc). In a farm setting I guess that would be a lot more limited and predictable. If reliability is paramount then meshing or relaying makes sense, but the tradeoff there is complexity.