Rating: 
Summary: Well, it's a start
Review: Make no mistake, networking is NOT for dummies. I live with a network engineer who constantly tells me that this technology is out of my league (and I used to dread setting networks up on a previous job, though I could do it after a fashion.) My approach has been "monkey see, monkey do" or more accurately "monkey, push random keys and hope it all works." So if anyone needs a dummy book, yep, it would be me.What I really like here is the start the book gave me in learning about networks. Even after HOURS of lectures at work on TCP/IP, ARPA services and other incomprehensibles, I failed to really grasp what the heck "gateway", "submask" and "workgroup" really meant. So I happily grabbed at this book, hoping all this Delphic language would reveal itself out of the fog of ignorance. I was partially rewarded. The parts I liked best were the "ten big mistakes" and the "ten commandments of networks." There is a section on wireless and while it will help you set one up, the advanced security features you really ought to have (can you say "WAR-DRIVING and online banking don't mix?) are best left to more experienced persons than me. But this was a nice start, this book, and it's fairly readable in chunks or to answer specific questions.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty much useless
Review: Not a bad book, but it is VERY basic. If you have worked with a network before, there is little information you can glean from this text. For someone who knows little about networks, or computers as a whole, this may be a good purchase. Do not, however, expect this book to teach you everything you need to know about working with a network. It is very simple, which makes the topics easy to understand, but expect to get another book centering on your particular network if you plan to do some serious networking. I would, however, recommend this book to newbies in networking as it goes over terms and concepts that everyone must know.
Rating: 
Summary: Definately for beginners
Review: Not a bad book, but it is VERY basic. If you have worked with a network before, there is little information you can glean from this text. For someone who knows little about networks, or computers as a whole, this may be a good purchase. Do not, however, expect this book to teach you everything you need to know about working with a network. It is very simple, which makes the topics easy to understand, but expect to get another book centering on your particular network if you plan to do some serious networking. I would, however, recommend this book to newbies in networking as it goes over terms and concepts that everyone must know.
Rating:
Summary: Another great dummies book!!!
Review: Ok, I own about 30 dummies books, and I like to read them because they are 1.) fun, and 2.) successful in telling me what I need to know. Networking for Dummies is no exception, it answers many questions for those of us who are not the extreme super-being (Network Manager), but who may still need to know how something about networking. My only complaint is it's brief offering of 100Base-T networking information. Other than that, it's great! Those of you looking to build your own small business network should pair this book with Small Business Networking for Dummies ... they are very complementary.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly for Dummies
Review: Purchase this only if you have a minute idea of what a computer is.
This is very elementary and assumes you have absolutely no knowledge of what a network even is. It doesn't go any further than that either.
Don't expect that you will be learn how to network computers together (my expectation); only that you will learn what components are involved --but not how they work or how to actually network them.
I don't mind basic info, but this book should be titled "Network Equipment Descriptions for Dummies" certainly not it's current title.
Way too many jokes as well (more annoying than entertaining).
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent introduction for the novice
Review: This book (4th Edition) answered the questions I had about networking my small business. Specifically, I needed to know: 1) should I use a peer-to-peer or a client/server LAN, 2) if client/server, should the server be dedicated as a server or could the server also be used as a workstation, 3) which operating system would be most appropriate for the clients or peers, 4) which network operationing system would be most appropriate for a server, 5) is the installation of the network within my scope. Before buying the book I had searched the Web in vain (both computing-specific sites and search engines) looking for answers to these questions. This book provided the information I needed to answer all five questions. The information is very product specific (eg, Novell NetWare can be difficult to install and the complication and expense is not justified for a five-user network; a peer-to-peer LAN is easy to set up with Win95 or Win98; PCI network cards are much easier to configure than the older styles). The book is well written (ie, easy to read, to-the-point, relevant). If you decide to install a peer-to-peer LAN with Win98, this is probably the only book you will need. If you decide to install a client/server LAN with a network operating system (NOS) such as NetWare or NT Server, you will probably need a book specific to those systems for installation and maintenance (there are Dummy books for both systems - which I haven't yet read). If you don't know which NOS to use, this book can help you decide.
Rating:
Summary: Very little value...find another book on the topic
Review: This book is a complete waste of time for both the beginner and especially the non-beginner. The author spends a great deal of time trying to be funny and wastes the reader's time and energy. He should have spent more time giving content. He does not give even the beginner much concrete advice. I would strongly suggest you find another book; his book has very little value. There are better books for the beginner in networking.
Rating:
Summary: A great starter book for those who want to get into networks
Review: This book is great. I would recomend it to anyone who is looking to understand the basics of networking. This book is the first to read if you are looking to step into networking. It is easy to understand and breaks down even the most hard to understand things, like NetWare, into simple language. It even tells you how to install different types of networks. It spends a little to much time on printers. Would be better if even more time was spent on the differet netwok operating systems. Overall this is an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Network Book ; Very Nice Break Down
Review: This book is very good at describing how networks function. It's very nicely setup as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an Intermediate level of understanding of networks. I especially liked the introductions to wide scale corporate networks.
Rating:
Summary: Hope for the Networking Clueless and Semi-Clueless
Review: This is a great beginning book. I have programming experience but was essentially in the dark regarding networking. Thanks to Doug Lowe, I can now see light. I bought the book to help me try to decide whether I wanted to network my home computers - I found out that I probably do not. Incidentally, I learned some interesting things about the networked computer that I use at work which have been very valuable. I would highly recommend this book to individuals who see themselves as clueless or semi-clueless about networking.
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