Customer Rating: 
Summary: Was expecting more. Over priced.
Comment: I was expecting a lot more of this book. It's probably a good book for a business person to understand technical infrastructure but for those already in IT, it is more of a review. For example, chapter 6 talks about DSL, VOIP, and how cellular networks work. For people in the technical field the level that this book goes into is pretty much known but for those in non technical areas or just getting in technology then its a good book.
Main issue I have is the price. For the price I think the book is very much lacking the level of technical review that is required to fully understand data networks. If you want to really understand networking, pick up a Cisco book for a lot less. To me this book should be no more than fifty dollars.
Customer Rating:
Summary: My Start
Comment: This book started my career in IT, as a University course. This book is straightforward with diagrams all throughout. Some people may just not have like learning the material to not like the book itself, but it will show you everything you need to know to get a good Basis, foundation, in Networking (Not certifications, etc). I'm using other books/materials for my cert prep.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Terrible Book
Comment: This book is awful. The revisions to it are updated, but to follow the book in order is nearly impossible. This is a text book being used at a college. The information in this book is scattered and makes learning the concepts difficult. I do not recommend this book for use at colleges/universities. There has to be another book out there that allows users to learn the concepts and terminology in an easier fashion.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Six Stars!
Comment: I've recently completed a course using this textbook. Excellent!!! It has been a long time (if ever) since I have actually enjoyed reading a textbook. I feel it should be mandatory reading for all authors and potential authors who will ever feel the need to publish a textbook for undergraduate level work in a technical field.Most of the many corrections on the online corrections page are minor and insignificant (i.e. typos) and would probably go unnoticed by the reader. With press deadlines in technologies being what they are, it is fully understandable. The choice to include those corrections (a) gave me a sense of security in that it demonstrated the author's thoroughness and (b) proves that you don't have to cut a new edition of your work every six months (which can be quite annoying for anyone who is looking to get a specific edition for class).
I was pretty much convinced that it was impossible to design and publish a textbook in a technical field of a caliber such as this. In general, technical authors either confuse the reader by over complicating the layout and material or they put the reader to sleep by being overly shallow and overly redundant. This is not the case for this book. In the words of Goldilocks, this one is "just right". I strongly recommend it to anyone, whether they have a class requirement for it or not.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Book, using in my PSU networking class
Comment: This book is great, it starts from the beginning of the networking age and goes through all the newest technologies and ideas about networking. Covers the business aspects of networking, wireless, how TCP/IP works and pretty muct the 802 standars. Book covers everything, this is one book I won't be selling back. A really good reference book for the basics of networking and rules to follow as well when getting into the networking field.
