Rating: 
Summary: the best on ADSL
Review: As a sales person of department ADSL, I reference new sales people within our company who want to know more on ADSL to read this book first. It starts at the basics, then explains the migration paths, DSL forms, and ends with open issues. It doesn't state, but explains, and gives both the advantages and downsides.I've read what there was to read on DSL: magazines, whitepapers, books. In the end, I kept coming back to this great book.
Rating: 
Summary: Unclog the Internet bottleneck!
Review: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is up to 50 times faster and cheaper than ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) channels - the fastest data transmission technology currently available to home users. ADSL AND DSL TECHNOLOGIES by Walter Goralski is a professional's guide to ADSL that allows them to quickly get a handle on this new technology without having to wade through mountains of technical reference materials. ADSL uses the existing copper lines that already connect 600 million subscribers to the PSTN. Recently released standards promise to spur rapid growth in the development of new high-speed ADSL-based applications, including faster Internet access and new broadband services like entertainment video, telecommuting, video conferencing, and enhanced telephony. ADSL AND DSL TECHNOLOGIES contains complete ADSL information, including: · Applications of ADSL technology in video conferencing, telecommuting, and online video
· DSL architecture and all of its variants - DSL, ADSL, HDSL (High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line), and VDSL (Very High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line)
· Complete coverage of the evolution of digital transmission methods
· Convergence of DSL and ATM (Asynchronous Transmission Mode) technologies
· In-depth discussion and analysis of ADSL Walter J. Goralski (Elmsford, NY) is a Senior Member of Technical Staff with Hill Associates, a technical training and consulting firm in Colchester, Vermont and an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Pace University Graduate School in New York. He is a regular contributor to LAN Magazine, where his most recent articles have been on 56K modem technology and the xDSL family.
Rating:
Summary: Well written primer
Review: The book is well written (by computer book standards :) ), and offers a surprising amount of information about the current US phone system (europeans, africans, etc. are out of luck....). It would have been interesting if there had been information about say Covad, Cisco and others who are actually implementing these technologies.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book on xDSL technology
Review: This book gives a good background on the Remote access market place and how it has evolved. The author includes all the variants of DSL technology and presents the information in a readable style. I would have given it 5 stars but the final editing was poor in that there are many type-setting errors throughout the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good overview, lacking in details
Review: This book is an excellent starting point for understanding the terminology and evolution of the PSTN. However, it falls short on detailed ADSL technology explanations. While some explanations are good, don't expect this book to provide you with in-depth technical details on the architecture and implementation of ADSL. For that, you'll have to read the spec.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, complete and accessible DSL information
Review: This book is exceptionally well-written. xDSL is being touted as 'the next big thing' in telco/internetworking and Mr Goralski does an oustanding job of presenting historical, technical and conceptual information that is complete yet accessible to the non-engineer. I do technical sales - which is to say being able to translate the telco-arcane to the 'real world' customer and being able to communicate customer needs to central office engineering and product development. Mr Goralski provides a great example of how this can be done well.
Rating:
Summary: Not for engineers
Review: This book is not good for technical people (they should read Thomas Starr "Understanding Digital Subscriber Line Technology" as the best technical reference book), but this may be a good one for marketing and management people, and for general reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Does anyone proofread anymore?
Review: This book is the most atrociously 'edited' book I've encountered in years. It wouldn't be so bad were it just grammar and punctuation. No, instead, you'll find numerous errors with inconsistent nomenclature, tables, and so on, all of which can't help but confuse one who is encountering the material for the first time.
Rating:
Summary: Truely enjoyful reading
Review: This book makes me laugh 10 times in the first 10 pages. Truely enjoyful reading...
Rating:
Summary: Know the difference in ADSL and DSL and them others
Review: This book takes you from ground zero to explain how the many protocols and technologies work. There are plenty of diagrams with extensive explanations on each variant with their advantages and disadvantages.
Much of the information in this book is how the basic telephone system is structures and can apply to many areas besides DSL. There is way too much detail to scratch the surface with this review so I will just cover some of the highlights. He covers the emergence of the internet and web sites with information about ISP's. From there the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is covered well enough to actually use. Loops and Trunks are covered. This is the mystery boxes in the phone room at work. The differences between analog and digital trunks are described. ISDN and DAML are covered along with the "Law of Large Numbers". Alright now he moves in to the world of Circuit use and Packet Switching. MODEMs yep all kinds 56K, Cable, MMDS, KMDS, and Satellite Systems. DSL's and T1's and so on and so on. This book is packed with diagrams and statistics. Want to delve deeper then
Appendix A Case studies
Appendix B Sources of Standards and Specification Information Don't ask me how all this can be packed in one book but it is and I use most of this technologies at work and could not fins any slipups.
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