Customer Reviews

Residential Broadband Networks

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There are about two or three must-reads out there if you want to understand broadband access at a high level. This is one of them.

Kim Maxwell's "Residential Broadband" is fantastic but a bit opinionated -- it doesn't even mention ANY wireless local loop solutions, for example. And it doesn't cover passive optical networks. Mr. Black's text is more comprehensive. It's an easy-to-read survey text which is an excellent introduction to the field.

It does use some technical lexicon and is not for the innumerate; go read books in the Microsoft Library if you want a "for Dummies" type book. Mr. Black defines the terms he uses very clearly, but does not pause to provide context for the reader. If you're an engineer or just a geek, you'll love this.

The book is a collection of material that appears to have been assembled in a hurry and not proof-read. Its incoherence probably mirrors the state of the industry when the book was published. There is no glossary and the index is so-so. There are better and more recent books available.

From Uyless Black: Some ten years after writing technical books and receiving reviews on them, I've decided to respond to the input from readers. I should have done so sooner, but here it is now. You will now see this note placed on the comments for each book that is listed on this site, so don't bother re-reading. The note is the same for all the technical books.

The "pros" comments have dealt mainly with an easy to understand format. The "cons" comments have focused on the books (a) not being suited for college classes, (b) too many typos, and (c) mere recitations of ITU and Internet standards. There are other positive and negative comments, but these four points stand out.

The books were intended to be general references; general in relation to the topic itself. They were designed specifically to provide a relatively non-technical overview of ITU and Internet standards. They were used mostly by professionals who had degrees, and needed to (quickly) come to a general understanding of a set of standards. Afterwards, the readers could then go into the details of the standards themselves. Thus, my task was to distill many pages of highly detailed specifications into a few pages of summaries. One of the principal criticisms of the books was the very reason they were written.

I fault myself and my three publishers for not catching the typos, of which there are just too many. I was being asked by my publishers and my clients to hurry-up and get the next summary text out the door, as the clients' projects were beginning. That is why I wrote so many books in a short time. The technologies were coming out in rapid succession, and people did not have the time to read perhaps thousands of pages of standards. I did not take sufficient time to proof. But my publishers, sometimes with two to three proof readers---and at least one technical expert---reading a manuscript also dropped the ball.

I think my books provided a valuable service to my readers. My clients used them extensively, and I believe I was able to "short-cut" them to later read the details more efficiently. Nonetheless, in hindsight the books were insufficiently edited and written with too much haste.

I've been quite surprised that these books are still being sold. Not because they do not have merit, but that they are out-dated. The market for them does not come from the publishers, but from being on the used book market. My recommendation to you is not to buy technical books that are (sometimes) over ten years old.

One last point, which I hope you find humorous, perhaps ironic. Some readers compared some of my work unfavorably to an esteemed writer and lecturer. I read some his books. One contained a figure what was quite similar to a figure in one of my books; so similar in fact, that it included an error I had made in the figure. He did not source my figure, but led the reader to think it was his own creation----and his own error!

I would welcome any thoughts you might have. You can send them to Blackssteets@aol.com.

This book is poorly written. You cannot get much useful information about ADSL, fixed wireless, etc from this book. Unless you can get it for free, otherwise not worth.