Rating:  - Looks good so far
Havent read the whole thing yet, but initially it looks good. If you want an idea of how networks work, give the book a try for yourself and then make a decision as to whether or not it was good for you. Opinions on here are driven by too many outside factors - draw your own conclusions from experience with the book, I say.
Rating: - This book is great for a beginner!
I was not able to put down this book!
Purchased it and read it from cover to cover. This was the kind of information I was looking for a long time and it was presented in the right way I needed. Text and lots of pictures/diagrams well balanced for a beginner.
Finally I am able to orient myself in the filed of computer networking and now I know what direction to go, if I want to obtain deeper knowledge in it.
Rating:  - Would Not Recommend
What I thought was Good about this book:
- Nothing was inaccurate.
What I thought was Bad about this book:
- I didn't learn anything. For the most part, this book just gave a bunch of vocabulary "buzz" words, and "hand waving" of how the pieces fit together to make a network.
I read this book because I wanted to get a better understanding of How Networks Work. After reading this book, I know the names of major components involved in various networks; however, I still don't know how these components actually process the information. The book shows a traffic cop controlling the flow of information. Fine, the book gave me the name of the traffic cop(s), but I was hoping for a more down to earth explanation. Might as well just say that it magically happens!
Rating: - Excellent Beginning Level Book
This is a beginning level book on networks. If you're a CCNA or something like that it will be trivial to you, and a waste of time. If, on the other hand, you have a local CCNA and he seems to spend a lot of time trying to snow you then this will give you the knowledge you need to know when he is full of it. Likewise it will be good for the beginner who is, perhaps setting up a home network to give multiple computers access to the Internet.
This book is not hardware specific, so you will still have to make decisions as to what brands of equipment to buy and things like that, but you will have an understanding of the concepts and the functions of the equipment you will be needing.
Intended for beginners, the book is printed in full color and is extensively illustrated with drawings that are clear and drawn specifically for this book.
Rating:  - Wonderful Classroom Tool
My students LOVE this book. They refer to it regularly. The flow charts and diagrams are invaluable. The systematic diagrams help students visualize how various networks components work individually and as a group. This is a great beginning network book as well as a reference tool. The chapters are short and to the point. Reproducing the diagrams without the text allows assessment of student understanding.
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