business

Well, I must confess... I wrote my first review BEFORE reading any other reviews. Wow - after reading the others, I started thinking "I MUST HAVE BEEN READING A DIFFERENT BOOK!" Well, that is exactly the story. My review is of the 7th edition and I specifically went looking for the grammatical errors and the packet-switching complaints and all the other complaints, one-by-one. You know what? HOOEY!! All the problems others speak of in the 6th edition have been corrected and improved upon! This is a good book! I liked Mr. Nagle's review and the only negatives he mentions were mere weaknesses that have been beefed up. So, I still say this is a book that you'll find useful if you read it. If you want to peruse it, looking for tips and tricks on setting up your own network, then I say this is NOT the book for you - I'd look for the networking for dummies. (I'm not trying to be flipant, either. Those books only have the tips of the icebergs and are great for perusing - kinda like a cliff's notes.)

I say you will like the improvements over whatever the 6th edition missed (or messed up).

I had to get this book because of college. It is a great book for anyone trying to understand basic concepts. It is very easy reading and keeps you interested. I would not recommend it for anyone who has a good understanding of communcations and networking.

The layout of this book could have used some work, and I understand the later editions do a better job, but it nevertheless provided a foundation of networking and datacomm principles. The material is out of date, so since there is a newer edition out, I would recommend it over this edition.