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[NorthernRaven]

I'm a techie programmer type but don't deal much with wireless, and I'm trying to help someone out. They have a D-Link 615 wireless router, and want to use it from next door (adjoining cottages). They can get a "poor" but usable signal from the edge of the closest room (the kitchen), but moving further pretty much takes it into disconnect range. Someone is trying to convince them to upgrade to a 655 model, saying it is "more powerful". Since they are both 802.11N routers, this seems unlikely, since the maximum transmit power is probably limited by regulatory considerations. Also, if the range of the wireless card in the laptop is the limiting factor this isn't going to help.

On the other hand, the 655 is newer (?), and has the three antennas, and they only need a fairly small increase in the footprint to make this worthwhile. The USB port for printer sharing would also be a nice extra. Does anyone have any comparative experience with the 615 vs. the 655 as far as maximum range? Moving the router closer isn't feasible, and messing around with range extenders or antennas or repeaters would be overkill.

[EddieZ]

Range depends on a lot of environmetal location elements. So it's quite impossible to make even an educated guess. The 655 is presumed to be 'better'. But you might want to reconsider your overkill assumptions.

[smlunatick]

Both routers operate with the 2.4GHZ radios and the range are the same.  You will need to re-think the set up.  You might need to consider replacing an "antenna" with a "directional" antenna "aied" at the second location.