Rating: 
Summary: Just Remember!
Review: This book is OK but remember if you are taking the Cisco course with the workbook this is Cisco's Ver. 1.1.1.1 and it may not match any of the online chapters. It's ok for some reference but it has a great deal of errors in the Hex and Subnet Masking areas, which can drive you insane if you have no other reference, if I had it to do over I would wait for a revision or find another text. I will try and post the page numbers with the mistakes at a later time.ZeroCQQL
Rating:
Summary: Incomplete
Review: This book is shamefully incomplete. As a CNAP student, I expected this book to augment my learning experience by offering further, deeper reading on program objectives. Unfortunately, it is, at best, simply a passable reference for completing the Engineering Journal pages when away from the computer. However, even in this it falls short. Perhaps the first improvement to the second edition should be including the full glossary from the on-line curriculum.
Rating: 
Summary: Companion is exactly was this book is... that's it!!!
Review: This book was not what I expected from a Cicso Press book. For one thing... the gloassary in the back of the book is missing too many definitions to be anything effective. Cisco also decided not to include any of its graphics that you find in their accedemy web-site into the book. Also, the chapters in the book do not corespond with the chapters on-line, which made it confusing for me when it came time to take the chapter 2 quiz. I've only used this book maybe twice through-out the semester. You don't even need this book!!!
Rating: 
Summary: A must have for novice networking students.
Review: This book was published in May-2000 and has 500+ pages compared to the Cisco Networking Academy's latest May-2001 book recommended by Cisco which was pubished and has 900+pages. Topics like subnetting are not covered in depth in this book. Overall OK but for more value for the money I would recommed Cisco Networking Academy with ISBN: 1587130254
Rating: 
Summary: Cisco First Year Companion Guide - Revised Printing
Review: This book was published in May-2000 and has 500+ pages compared to the Cisco Networking Academy's latest May-2001 book recommended by Cisco which was pubished and has 900+pages. Topics like subnetting are not covered in depth in this book. Overall OK but for more value for the money I would recommed Cisco Networking Academy with ISBN: 1587130254
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Introduction to Networking
Review: This is an excellent introduction to networking for beginners, especially those seeking the Cisco CCNA certification. However, be advised that it is not all inclusive; it does not include all of the information one needs to know for a solid networking foundation by itself. It is intended to supplement the Cisco Networking Academy Online material.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect add-on for Cisco tests.
Review: When you want information about Windows 2000 you ask Microsoft, Netware 5 you ask Novell, with Cisco Routers and the CCNA exam you need to go to Cisco. The First year companion is the book that Cisco trains with at the Cisco Academy and this should be your book too. The First year companion is 19 chapters starting with basic networking and the OSI model all the way through Network Management. Each chapter is detailed and well documented, yet easy enough to understand that the reading will not lose anyone. You have figures, pictures, diagrams, tables and review questions with each chapter. You will cover topics like the seven layers of the OSI model, networking devices, ARP and RARP, topologies, TCP/IP, routing and router configuration, RIP and IGRP and the command summary. The author does a great job in giving you as much information as possible. I think that there should have been practice questions or tests on a cd-rom included with the book; the cd included with the book is filled with videos that enhance the chapter covered in the book. Overall one of the best books I have ever reviewed.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST book material-wise
Review: Yes, this book does have its share of typos, incorrect diagrams, etc., but if you're a network admin who's been dealing with ethernet and TCP/IP for a couple years this book is, hands down, the best book you could possibly buy. The first 15 chapters (the 'Semester 1' material) really puts all of the pieces of the networking puzzle together. The coverage of the OSI model, and the technologies and protocols that map to it, is very easy to understand. I can't begin to tell how much more I enjoy my job (and how much better I am at it) because I now *understand* the nitty gritty details of what's going on. The first 15 chapters (before you ever get to a router prompt) alone are worth the price of this book. As a text for the Networking Academy program, the 'Semester 2' chapter designations are confusing (second half of the book). And the questions in the chapter tests on the netacad server don't help, asking a question on LSAs in the exam for one of the intro chapters on routing protocols. Clearly Cisco needs to clean up their act with the whole 'First Year' program. But I've got a stack of non-Cisco Cisco books as high as my desk and none of them comes close to covering the OSI layers the way this book does, and that's really the key to understanding how networks work.
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