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Rating: 
Summary: book review
Review: During the past year, I have thought about my options for a faster internet connection. Although I am satisfied with Pots, many of my friends tell me to get a cable modem. I would gladly lay down $40 dollars a month on a cable modem if the results were greatly significant. To learn a little more about my options I planned to read a book that described each technology from a consumer point of view. When I came across this book on the web, I quickly ordered it. It was an o.k., but not the greatest. This book was very informative and well organized from a historical point of view. Modems were covered from as far back as the first analog modem of the 1960's, to today's high speed modems (ADSL, ISDN). I totally agreed with Maxwell about communication technologies making money. As information is becoming extremely important, most businesses who need to send information as quickly as possible will certainly lay down the cash. But what I did not like about this book is the explanation of high speed connections from a residents point of view. Like I said in the beginning, I was counting on this book to supply me with valuable information of high speed connections from an average consumer point of view. I was suprised to read that Maxwell thinks ADSL's are much better than cable modems. I did a little research myself after reading the book and found it to be the other way around. Although ADSL's are reaching more areas,cable modems cover a much larger territory right now. One thing that is great about ADSL's is that it uses existing telephone lines and is a lot better than 56k. If you want detailed technical information this is not the book. The technical explanations for a few of the technologies were not explained that well and confusing. So I would recommend this book for someone who wants to study the evolution of high speed internet connections.
Rating: 
Summary: extremely provocative, very well informed
Review: I admire the author of this book for being provocative, as opposed to simply cataloguing information in the way that virtually all other books of this ilk do. I don't fully agree with all of Maxwell's predictions -- in particular, his guess that ATM will have a much larger role to play in this part of the network -- but he identifies all the issues. Hats off for a tech book with a strong point of view and a ton of great insight.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply a sloppy job!
Review: I bought this book on an impulse buy due to the interesting title (I had a gift certificate that was about to expire) As a networking consultant, I have noticed that books on ADSL, cable modems and other high speed networking technology are needlessly verbose just to make for a thick tome. This book is one of a refrshing new breed that explains technologies clearly without dumbing it down. I found myself reading Residential Broadband like one would read a suspenseful novel, I couldn't put it down! I was surprised how it could be so user-friendly yet get very deep technically. This book is what a tech book should be, easy to read, brief, yet thorough. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: This guy knows his stuff!
Review: The author not only packs his book with information and explanations of residential broadband, but he includes many interesting facts about telecom in general. For example, on page 108 he says "Within a decade, most networked traffic will not travel more than a few miles and will not enter the internet." I disagree with one reader who found a single reference to the ancient greeks a waste of time; I enjoy authors who are actually educated and well rounded -- they can write a sentence that is clear and do not need to hide behind jargon. I found his discussions of trends and his logical support of conclusions to be worthwhile. He also throws in miscellaneous facts -- for example, how did he know that most ILECs have roughly half their capital investement in copper? If any reader wishes to fill the interstices of his mind with telecom & broadband knowledge, this is the book to get.
Rating:
Summary: This guy knows his stuff!
Review: The author not only packs his book with information and explanations of residential broadband, but he includes many interesting facts about telecom in general. For example, on page 108 he says "Within a decade, most networked traffic will not travel more than a few miles and will not enter the internet." I disagree with one reader who found a single reference to the ancient greeks a waste of time; I enjoy authors who are actually educated and well rounded -- they can write a sentence that is clear and do not need to hide behind jargon. I found his discussions of trends and his logical support of conclusions to be worthwhile. He also throws in miscellaneous facts -- for example, how did he know that most ILECs have roughly half their capital investement in copper? If any reader wishes to fill the interstices of his mind with telecom & broadband knowledge, this is the book to get.
Rating:
Summary: overview of xDSL and cablemodem systems, but wordy
Review: The book covers the historical background that influenced the design of today's residential broadband systems.
Rating:
Summary: Too narrow-minded
Review: The book gives a good historical perspective, but fails on two major levels (both highly predictive): (1) the author obviously buys into the current baby bell hype and chooses xDSL as a superior technology to cable modems. (2) wireless communications are completely dismissed as cost prohibitive.
Rating:
Summary: Must have in the BroadBand business
Review: These opinions are not necessarily those of my employer. I think the author did a fine job of explaining the applications and markets for residential broadband. The argument is lucid and reasonably concise. I had a lot of trouble following the information about networking protocol. The pros and cons of the various appoaches were not clearly explained. The interlinking of data from the various protocols is also not well explained. Information about the current physical plant bottlenecks was meager. Digital satellite broadband service is simply dismissed as too expensive, with no corroboration. The claim that ADSL will win out over cable modems in the medium term and keep hold of the broadband pipeline until we get fiber to the home seems both unsubstantiated and self serving. The relationship between available signal frequency bandwidth and Mpbs is not covered. I expect that the level of interest in this topic will give Mr. Maxwell the opportunity for at least a 2nd edition. I wish him a tough, unflinching editor.
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