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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Great for Beginners and Intermediates...Feb 22, 2000
By Jennifer Fowler
I actually had to buy this book for a college class however the class didn't require a thorough reading of the book. Well, after the class, months after, I went back to the book and re-read it and I must say, it's a great book. It goes over networking hardware, the OSI layer and has several diagrams. I really found this book to be helpful.
4 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Not Recommended - Facts but few keys to understandingApr 02, 1999
By Randall Larsen
Raynond Panko's book contains many interesting facts about networking. The author's modules are presented in a well-written, entertaining, and sometimes humourous style. Unfortunately, the book shows little evidence that the author, a purported networking guru who has worked with the likes of Doug Engelbart (the inventor of the mouse), understands underlying network theory. Consequently the Business Networking user who learns networking from this book may have problems communicating successfully with computer science department trained networking technicians. One reason is that the book presents some non-standard definitions of well-know computer science terms such as "reliable protocol." These "howlers" are apparent to anyone who may have slept through a networking course in the computer science department of a fifth rate junior college or taken a Cisco course in High School. Lets look at a few examples. On page 40 we are told that Negative acknowledgements are "reliable protocol, which means that it does error correction." Retransmission of a packet is not technically error correction. Error correction would occur only when error correcting codes sent with a packet are used to reconstruct a packet that contains a bit error. On page 7 the book seems to imply that there is a correspondance relationship between the labels of text in domain names such as voyager.cba.hawaii.edu and internet addresses such as 128.171.17.13. He informs us that "although all internet addresses have four segments host names can have as few as two text segments." Are we to infer that 128 is a code for voyager, while 171 is a code for cba? How do we get away with domain names with only two text labels? The books introductory presention of internet addresses and domain names is a red herring that will confuse neo-phytes over 30. On page 66-68 the book attempts to illuminate the advantages of Digital versus analog transmission. Once again the book mixes up two technical concepts "reliability" and "error correction." It is claimed that digital transmission is "reliable" because it regenerates ones and zeros. This is technically error correction not reliability which means retransmission of packets. Reliability refers strictly to the retransmission of packets not received. Regeneration is claimed to be the reason digital sound and video "usually look better than traditional radio and television signals, which are analog." This is not strictly true. An analog signal contains more information than a digital signal which is subject to quantitization errors. An analog signal without dropouts is better than a digital signal it is just difficult to record or transmit over long distances. I applaud the book for attempting to present only the practical details of networking. Unfortunately to present networking with little of the underlying theory does not help students organize the flood of facts in any meaningful way. Further facts without theory do not form a basis for further study. I am appalled that the renowned publisher of this book apparently failed to have its content checked by a technically qualified editor. After all this is the "second edition." The book it seems is designed for students who want to memorize a few facts in order to pass a test. The book in my opinion is not designed for anyone who really wants to understand networking even practical "business networking" whatever that is. I recommend business networking instructors stick with the current standard texts for business networking classes. Better yet try Walrand's computer science oriented introductory networking text. Students will remember more if they learn some underlying theory
 Decent content, easy to read, unnecessary commentaryJan 21, 2011
By Santina Croniser
I purchased this book for a required class in my Information Systems program. While the book does a decent job of breaking down complex topics for people who are new to networking concepts, the author attempts to be funny or sarcastic. Sarcasm may work wonders in a presentation, but it often fell flat. I wish I could find the exact page, but somewhere within the first few chapters the book states something like "x term is used just to confuse networking students". Since there are many of these 'witticisms' in the book, you have to filter the relevant from irrelevant. Although this is not difficult, it is both annoying and not time-effective.
I'm suffering through this because I have to. If there is another resource that is good at breaking down technical concepts for novices, then do buy that book. If not, then be prepared.
***Update 5/3/11***
After completing my class (and reading more of the book), the book started to wain on the 'punny' but continued with an excellent explanation to those who are new to networking. I still wish the book would have gotten to the point faster, (there's still a lot of unnecessary words) but at least it was a useful resource.
Excellent Networking book.Oct 12, 2010
By C. Yarbor
I would like to preface this review by stating that I am an experienced network professional with in field hands on experience, a degree, and a Network+ certification.
I had to buy this book for a class that Im taking to finish my bachelor's degree and I am extremely impressed with this book. I didn't realize how expensive this book was, but trust me, its worth the money. ( I bought it through the school).
The author covers subjects that few networking books cover in a single edition and he includes hands on labs (these labs are some of the more useful ones that I have seen and are some of the most relevant to the field of networking). This books covers topics like VLANs, RSTP, etc. I have seen almost no networking books that cover these topics (in any detail). Also, the author goes the extra mile by explaining that certain technologies are dated.
This is a very good book and one I probably wont sell.
Informative yet ExpensiveJan 29, 2010
By Sergeant O
This book was filled with lots of information about networks, tcpip and other protocols. It does touch on some topics pretty heavily and can get confusing for newbees but overall it is a good book. I used it for a college course but may also be a good reference book. THE PRICE IS STEEP SO NO 5 STARS FROM ME!
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