Customer Reviews

Network+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Second Edition

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Over the past 13 years there are a few names that have become standouts in the certification arena, Mike Meyers is one of those people, first in A+ and now with the second edition of the Network+ certification. Updating and already highly useful book, Meyers has once again covered each exam objective completely and once again he has gone far beyond the exam to give the reader more than enough information.

This 700 plus page manual, broken down into three parts begins with part 1 covering networking fundamentals, client/server concepts, resource sharing and the always difficult OSI Model. Meyers' expertise has never been more apparent than it is throughout this first section.

In part 2 the Basic LAN section, you'll handle topics like hardware, topologies, Ethernet and 802 standards, 5-4-3 rule, token ring, FDDI, ATM, cabling. Protocols like NETBeui, NetBios, IPX, SPX, TCP/IP and AppleTalk are the next areas that have been given coverage.

The section winds up with TCP/IP utilities like DHCP, DNS, WINS, YCP and UDP. From there you move onto NOSes like NT, Novell, UNIX, Linux and the MAC. Then you go to part 3 which is the beyond the LAN section, most of this section goes beyond the exam objectives but as you have come to expect from Meyers, this is information that will carry beyond the test right into the job.

In part 3 permissions, rights, resource sharing, web concept of HTTP, FTP and HTTPS, remote connectivity like SLIP, PPP, PPTP, VPNs and authentication and encryption. Finally Raid, backup solutions and troubleshooting round out what is already a masterful layout of technical expertise.

Each chapter has practice questions, there is a cd with hundreds of questions and you can go directly to Total Seminars to get even more practice questions. Overall is you are looking to make short work of the Network+ exam start here for the best chance possible.

Like other reviewers had said, this book is an extremely easy read. I finished this book in about 10 days. However, I also just passed the Network+ certification exam and found out COMPTIA does test you on VLAN, Wireless LAN, & DSL. This Meyers' book did not cover these materials well or at all.
Overall, this book is not as good as his other book on A+.

Man, I wish all books for certification were written like this. Again, extremely informative and it challenges you to think of real world scenarios related to networking. Also, he throws in little tricks throughout that will aid you in troubleshooting and configuration. Can't wait to his next book. This is a guy who really knows his stuff and is not afraid to share it. Finally, the OSI model is explained in an interesting and easy to understand model. Hats off to you Mike you have done it again! I have not written the test yet but the book follows the objectives of 2002 exam and I am sure there will be no surprises when exam time comes.

This was a very enjoyable book to read and as far as giving a good knowledge of networking it succeeds. Anyone interested in good overall information on networking should get this book. Unfortunately the title of this book is "Network+ Exam Guide" and not a general book on networking. So as a test prep guide I think it misses the mark. The test is very hard, and in the books credit I don't think any one book can really prepare you for the scope of the network+ exam. My test asked some unusual and obscure questions. Some of these were not covered in this book at all, or maybe a passing side note so small I didn't even see it (AFP, nslookup). Some questions on the exam were on subjects that I think would be rare to encounter in any relatively normal or modern network. The exam also questions common topics in a very roundabout and tricky way. Now I'm not discrediting this book, I still think it is useful, but not as an "all-in-one" guide. I would still consider this book, BUT NEVER as your only guide. Get SEVERAL resources to cover your tracks. Memorize SPECIFIC DETAILS not just general information, be "strict" in your studying habits. If you read something and think it is too obscure, you'll likely be surprised. Know all your commands, your protocols, your connection types, and file services. Be a trivia master when it comes to networking!

The author's sarcasm and jokes can be quite annoying at times and refreshing at others, but the content is pretty good. The book is filled with personal opinions on certain topics. For a certification book, he could have stuck to the facts a little better instead of going on about industry debates. This is a great book for insight into networking with lots of detailed pictures. Maybe not the best book for someone with a lot of experience who just wants to study. Either way, if you read it front to back, you should have little trouble getting certified. Also, this is the only book I could find that covers the 2002 objectives.

When I have $200 plus riding on the line, to pass one exam, would I want to count on the reading of just one book to pass? No, but this book comes close to being your one source to pass the Network+ exam.

I used Mike Meyers' books to help me pass the A+ exam and, more recently, the Network+ exam. His writing style makes what could be an otherwise dry and boring subject interesting enough to make you want to keep reading. While some may find his style of writing to be a bit unprofessional I think most would appreciate his humor and his efforts to keep the subject matter interesting and motivating to the reader.

The author's use of "Tips" and designating subjects as "Exam Specific" should prove to be very helpful to anyone using this book to help them pass the Network+ exam. The reader has the choice of reading the entire book or just zeroing in on the "Exam Specific" subjects. However, if time permits, I would recommend reading the entire book.

Where then does this book fall short? Well, it isn't the book but rather the practice questions on the CD that accompany the book. There are only 120 questions overall with two final exams of 60 questions each. These exams do not change the order of the questions or the order of the multiple choice answer selections. As a result, the answers become easily memorized which may be of little value towards taking the real exam.

My advice...Buy and read this book but also invest in some additional exam practice questions. Particularly practice exams that have many questions, changes the order of the questions and changes the order of the possible answers. In other words, exam questions that force you to think and analyze the question before answering. After all, this is what you'll be doing when taking the real exam.

Also the practice exam that you choose should do a good job of explaining the answers. Explanations that detail why an answer is correct and why other possible answers are incorrect.

This book + good exam practice questions = Certification.

I had used Sybex for my A+ test last year and bought their Network+ book based on my A+ success. I found Sybex's book just a touch lacking. I went through the book twice and didn't feel that I was prepared to take the test. As such, I decided to take a class for Net+ and Meyers' book was used in it.

The All in One book is a great complement to any other source of information you have for Net+. Both books assume that you have no networking knowledge, however Meyers does a slightly better job of relating the information to those with no experience.

This book is bigger than the Sybex, but it reads a touch easier and has more pictures and diagrams. (pictures pretty) The extra pictures and diagrams help to more easily identify components, the outcomes of certain commands, and the breaking down of things like subnetting. (which is never fun)

If you're looking to get your Network+ certification, have no networking experience, and can get only one book, I'd have to recommend the All in One Network+ from Michael Meyers. Ideally, if you're not taking a class on the subject, get both Meyers' and Groth's (Sybex) books. They complement each other well in the sense that if you have trouble grasping a section in one book, seeing the information presented in a different way in the other book can shed more light on it.
Good luck future techs.

I heard a couple of weeks ago that Michael Meyers had a new book coming out for Network+. This was good news to me, since I read and loved his A+ book, and I'm looking at getting my Network+ this year with the new test objectives.

So I got my hands on the new Network+ the other day, and I have to say it's great! I haven't made it all the way through (of course) but the introductory chapters filled in the holes in my basic understanding of networking. The explanation of the OSI 7-layer model really made sense! I really feel like I'm going to get a lot out of this book.

The writing is interesting, and the drawing and photos really bring this stuff to life. I have a feeling I'll be reading this one twice, but I'm not worried it will put me to sleep. Coming from someone who reads lots of tech books, that's really a compliment!

The author's writing style is similar in the books that he writes for the various certifications that are available. The questions at the end of the chapters don't follow the network+ standards and the tests in the CD-ROM don't follow the current adaptive standards that CompTia uses for certification. Most topics are explained well, but the book lacks information about ComtTia required objectives. The reader is not made aware as to what chapter corresponds to the required objectives. Tamara Dean's book aims more closely at the CompTia required standards. Still this book is one of the best readable books when it comes for network+ certification.

This book follows the format of the revised Network+ exam very closely. One would probably be able to pass the exam using just this book in combination with some previous knowledge and/or experiance. However, I would recommend picking up Tamara Dean's Network+ book to fill in some of the areas not covered closely enough by Meyers, such as Remote Access, WAN technologies and Network Troubleshooting. Also, the end of chapter questions in this book are weak at times, and do not accurately represent the difficulty of the exam itself. The tests on the CD-ROM are a good practice tool.