Understanding Data Communications

This book was very understandable. Gilbert Held presents his information very well. I did find several typos, but that's a minor quibble.

I review many technical books in the fields of telephony and data communications every year, and I found this book to be a great Intro text. It covers data communications concepts from the beginning, providing readers with a solid base of knowledge. I use this book in some of the data communications classes I teach, and can easily recommend it.

This text is simple to follow even if you have only a very generic knowledge of computers and related hardware. Computers, however, aren't the only subject contained , not by any means. All types of communicaton systems and standards are touched on at least briefly. Satellite, fiber optic, LAN, WAN, internet, microwave, and telecommunication systems are among the topics included. Modems and modem protocols are exhaustively explained, maybe even excessively so. The illustrations contained are extremely useful and appropriate for simplifying complex topics, they may even over simplify things somewhat. Throughout the text are personal touches and light humors that make it that much more enjoyable to read. I definetly recommend this text to anyone who has the slightest interest in how communications systems work.