sierra-580.png vs ccu-6501.png

For the purpose of testing and also get a card which would run on my Macbook Pro Core duo i bought the CCU-650.
You like me might wonder which is the best product of the Sierra Wireless 580 and the C-Motech CCU-650
So i decided to put these products through some tests.

First of all here is the link on how to configure the C-Motech CCU-650 for a CAT telecom connection in Thailand, some of this information is also valid for other regions of the world:

MacosX Leopard C-Motech CCU-650 configuration

Testing of Sierra Wireless 580 vs C-Motech CCU 650 CAT telecom Thailand.
Location: Phuket Town, Soi Taling Chan.
Environment: Room with Concrete Walls.
Testtools: http://speedtest.adslthailand.com/
Additional testing done with the ping utility contained within both windows and MacosX
Date: 6-7th of February 11pm to 5am.

Both of the tested configurations had compression and error correction turned on in the modem.
In my Windows installation it seemed Compression was not turned on by default, so i had to turn this on myself.
Notes Sierra 580 C-Motech CCU-650
Download Upload Download Upload
Testing alternately 774 43 871 59
“ 1013 57 954 50
“ 903 62 1070 63
“ 793 58 985 55
“ 746 43 1072 56
“ 479 53 1077 51
“ 720 53 1024 56
Average 775 kbps 52.7 kbps 1007.5 kbps 55.7 kbps
It seems the CCU-650 is performing better, at least in my environment.The CCU-650 also continued to perform strong even when it was run in the PC, just for some comparison i tried the CCU-650 in the PC instead of the Macbook Pro, it continued its stronger performance there.After some additional research i found out that the antenna on the Sierra Wireless card for optimum operation should be extended
at a 90 degree angle from its base.The above numbers are with a totally extended antenna.Let us collect some more numbers with the Sierra wireless antenna at 90 degrees.
Notes Sierra 580 C-Motech CCU-650
Download Upload Download Upload
Testing alternately 606 61 761 34
“ 650 72 894 60
“ 618 42 1134 51
“ 661 67 1063 63
“ 715 59 817 70
“ 437 41 847 62
“ 470 52 872 69
“ 461 28 844 61
“ 547 60 838 48
Average 573.8 kbps 53.5 kbps 896.6 kbps 57.5 kbps

Setting the antenna of the Sierra Wireless 580 card to 90 degrees from its base did not help much, in my case it seemed to make matters worse.

But the overall numbers for both are also down, so perhaps the antenna adjustment on the Sierra 580 in this case did not make much difference.

The reason for numbers being down is perhaps that there was more traffic at this time than when i tested earlier.

This is the rough testing done so far.
The Sierra wireless card was Run on An Acer Aspire 5580.
The CCU-650 was run on an Apple macbook Core Duo.
CCU-650 was also after the test run on the Acer Aspire 5580, and showed the same high trend on that platform running Windows XP.
During the testing the CCU-650 always had the antenna pointing straight upwards.

Conclusion: Early to make any hard conclusion at this point, but it seems that the CCU-650 can hold its ground in the environment i do my daily living.

Reflections: The antenna of the CCU-650 seems to work pretty well while just being extended straight upwards, it is also easier to manipulate into the direction you might want it to go, but during other testing i concluded that the straightup direction of the CCU-650 was the best in my environment.

During my testing i was able to easily move the antenna of the CCU-650 to a direction which had better bandwidt with use while using http://speedtest.adslthailand.com/, and the best speeds was achieved then with the antenna facing straight upwards.

All the numbers herein from the CCU-650 is with the antenna pointing straight upwards.

The direction of the Sierra wireless antenna is more difficult to manipulate, in some cases it seems you need to move your seated direction in order to get a better signal, but to the benefit of the Sierra wireless 580 antenna it is alot more robust and sturdy
There is a slight trend for the CCU-650 doing better than the Sierra Wireless 580 during my tests.

Explanation of terms used:
Alternately: Meaning they were both tested within a timeframe of generally less than one minute, but not while the others test was running.
This article will be updated soon.