Getting Connected

I just started work at a company offering Internet connectivity, and this book was the best learning tool I used. It came highly recommended from the company's VP's. The boss is always right, it turns out! You can pick up this book and learn, whether you're a pro or not.

Here at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas we are installing a T1 line from our ISP. I wanted to understand the real technology that's behind all the hardware we are installing. This book is perfect.If you are looking at installing and configuring large bandwidth lines or backbones, start with this book. No matter how much you already know about Windows, Unix, Cisco, you will definately learn something. It's staying on my desk forever. Worth every penny!

After working at an ISP for 6 months, i still had questions that no one could answer in a way that made sense to me. This book answered all my questions and more! If your serious about learning how an ISP really works, buy this book. It won't sit on a shelf like all those 1500 page books you wasted money on, you can actually READ this one!

I've always been happy with my readings in the nutshell handbook series from O'Reilly, but this book tops the heap. A survey of all the hardware and software necessary to set up a dedicated link from any organization to the internet is contained herein, from HDLC to setting up networking on a mac, from SONET fiber rings to ISDN lines. A must read for any user who's ever wondered, "What does T1 REALLY mean?"

This was an excellent introduction to high-speed internet access and the "pipes" over which it runs, very appropriate for anyone who needs to connect a LAN to the internet. It provides a nice bridge between the beginner's guide to the internet and the serious gearhead textbooks that make up the majority of internet books today. Very little fluff and not too much that the non-technical reader will have to skip. Read it! Andrew Sullivan