Linksys Networks: The Official Guide, Second Edition

Kathy Ivens

1 Written with Beginners in mind
I disagree with the previous reviewer. Yes, very basic terminology is covered including PCMCIA cards, USB ports, etc. Then again, there are folks who are new to this terminology and need this information to connect their computers at home.

I write computer programs for a living and yet the hardware concepts have never been my domain. I found this book useful in creating a wireless network at my home.

2 Linksys Networks ... For Dummies
I figured the 2nd edition of the "official guide" meant it would cover most aspects of linksys router firmware. It didn't. What it did contain was way too many "that's beyond the scope of this book" by trying to address too wide of an audience.

e.g.,
page 162, figure 6-13 is an image of a screen shot of where one would configure traffic filtering, with a sub-title of "Tweak the router's settings with advanced options." The tweaking, in the following paragraph is then summarized with, "However implementation requires understanding of data types... this is a job for a consultant" without even defining what was shown in the image. (What kind of official guide shows an image of something, then says it's too technical to discuss?)

While it did address only Linksys products, it also covered basics unrelated to Linksys, "what's a network?" "what's a modem?" and my favorite, "connecting the satellite to your network"

Some other lows:

* At almost every chance, the authors filled pages to show how to install software, in some cases telling exactly what's included within Linksys product manuals. (Do we really need to see a screen that tells us to wait several minutes? Figure 7-2)

* The book includes a generic network glossary should you forget the meaning of terms such as byte, bit, default button, local printer, sneakernet and document. (No joke, "document" and "default button" are in the glossary)

* The appendix also includes a section called Advanced Network Tools where you can learn about ipconfig, ping, net send and how to set a PC clock via net time.

I'm sure authors Kathy and Larry know plenty about networking, but this particular book should have been called "LinkSys Networks, The Official Guide for Dummies"

Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G