I found this book to be very helpful. As a network support engineer, I needed to understand the basic principles of how routing protocols work. This book is the best example that I have found for helping me to understand these concepts. I learn by doing better than I learn by just reading which is why I like the workbook style of this book. that lends itself to going into a lab and experimenting with these concepts. Some readers might be put off by this book if they were expecting a book that is best read over a cup (or pot) of coffee. I believe that the real benefit of this book is in the doing of what it covers; not the reading.

My other review comments are in response to some of the critical reviews from other readers of this book. It really bothers when somebody trashes a networking book in a review when the person doing the review isn't somebody the book was intended to help. The problem is exacerbated when the reader hasn't taken the time to really understand the purpose of a book.

In the case of Mr. Papen's review, he missed the point that the only reason any routing protocols were mentioned in this book was because the topics that the core of the book - convergence, split horizon, default gateways, discontinuous networks, & VLSM - require that a routing protocol is used in order to demonstrate them. These topics apply as much to OSPF, EIGRP and BGP as they do to RIP & IGRP. Adding material about OSPF, EIGRP and BGP would only have added unnecessary complexity to the points being made. To say that "...I have *never* heard the nomenclature used in this book anywhere to describe networks..." doesn't mean that this nomenclature doesn't exist - it means that until this book was written, this nomenclature was not commonly included in books on IP routing; which by-the-way was probably a key reason why the author wrote the book in the first place. I suggest that Mr. Papen read rfc1812.txt and rfc1058.txt. I would also like to point out that based on the table of contents; this was book was not written "...to explain networking..." as such. When a reader purchases a book that is inappropriate for his or her requirements; he or she need only return it and look for another book. You shouldn't trash a book in a review because it wasn't what you were expecting anymore than you should trash a hardware store because you purchased the wrong size of nails or the wrong type of screw driver.

In the case of Mr. Macfarlanes's review, Mr. Macfarlane also missed the point that the only reason any routing protocols were mentioned in this book was because the topics that the core of the book - convergence, split horizon, default gateways, discontinuous networks, & VLSM - require that a routing protocol is used in order to demonstrate them.
The organizational issue that Mr. Macfarlane mentions isn't really a problem if you use this book as a workbook (as it appears the author intended) instead of a book that is to be read in the order of the chapters.

There is some good info in this book but the principle criticism with is a major lack of organization of the material. It is almost as though the topics were written on little pieces of paper, thrown into a hat, and then drawn one at a time and associated to chapter 2, chapter 3, etc. For example, a discussion of binary numbers and network addressing, a preliminary topic, is left until chapter 8.

"VLSMs" and "IP unnumbered" are combined into one chapter. Although both topics can be thought to solve a similar problem, not much of a case is made for that. There are actually no chapters specific to routing protocols, the heart of routing. Instead, an assumption seems to be made that the reader is already familiar with routing protocols, in spite of the first chapter assuming the reader knows nothing about routing.

There is some good info in this book but the principle criticism with is a major lack of organization of the material. It is almost as though the topics were written on little pieces of paper, thrown into a hat, and then drawn one at a time and associated to chapter 2, chapter 3, etc. For example, a discussion of binary numbers and network addressing, a preliminary topic, is left until chapter 8.

"VLSMs" and "IP unnumbered" are combined into one chapter. Although both topics can be thought to solve a similar problem, not much of a case is made for that. There are actually no chapters specific to routing protocols, the heart of routing. Instead, an assumption seems to be made that the reader is already familiar with routing protocols, in spite of the first chapter assuming the reader knows nothing about routing.

I was looking for a book to explain networking to a friend who's just starting out in the field. I've been doing this for 6+ years and I found this book to be more confusing than helpful. I have *never* heard the nomenclature used in this book anywhere to describe networks. I can't think of a great disservice to new networking admins than to fill their heads with words they wont use and problems the wont need to solve.

I would wager that > 95% of networks installed today don't use IGRP and RIP because of CIDR and VLSM constraints (among other reasons), yet these are the only two protocols described in the book. By using such antiquated protocols, problems easily solved are compounded into difficult and obtuse examples of what may occur if one goes out of their way to make life more difficult.

The digression into a 3 year old Cisco bug, just to prove a point, I found to be a further waste of the readers time and another classic example of this books inability to leave the reader with a useful set of examples that may one day appear on their job.

This book would have been much more useful if it went over EIGRP and OSPF - protocols that networks actually use today. Then time could have been spent on more useful digressions into route propagation and updates.

This edition to the Cisco Press has proved a long held belief. They print as much garbage as they do gems. After reading this book, the only thought I had left was, "I want 5 hours of my life back".

I was looking for a book to explain networking to a friend who's just starting out in the field. I've been doing this for 6+ years and I found this book to be more confusing than helpful. I have *never* heard the nomenclature used in this book anywhere to describe networks. I can't think of a great disservice to new networking admins than to fill their heads with words they wont use and problems the wont need to solve.

I would wager that > 95% of networks installed today don't use IGRP and RIP because of CIDR and VLSM constraints (among other reasons), yet these are the only two protocols described in the book. By using such antiquated protocols, problems easily solved are compounded into difficult and obtuse examples of what may occur if one goes out of their way to make life more difficult.

The digression into a 3 year old Cisco bug, just to prove a point, I found to be a further waste of the readers time and another classic example of this books inability to leave the reader with a useful set of examples that may one day appear on their job.

This book would have been much more useful if it went over EIGRP and OSPF - protocols that networks actually use today. Then time could have been spent on more useful digressions into route propagation and updates.

This edition to the Cisco Press has proved a long held belief. They print as much garbage as they do gems. After reading this book, the only thought I had left was, "I want 5 hours of my life back".

Robert Wright provides in his book a clear introduction in IP routing. He describes RIP, RIP-2 and IGRP and provides a lot of practical examples to demonstrate the various routing and addressing concepts.

He also provides an overview about routing metrics & distances, IP addressing, VLSM, default routing and gives some detailed explanation about summarization and the problems with discontigous networks.

As I'm working as a technical instructor I used a lot of his examples to eplain my students some of the inside concepts of IP routing.

I strongly recommend this book to everybody who intends to dive into the world of IP internetworking. This book is not only for beginners it also provides some valuable information for intermediate users or even experts.

Very well done, thank you, Robert:-)

Robert Wright provides in his book a clear introduction in IP routing. He describes RIP, RIP-2 and IGRP and provides a lot of practical examples to demonstrate the various routing and addressing concepts.

He also provides an overview about routing metrics & distances, IP addressing, VLSM, default routing and gives some detailed explanation about summarization and the problems with discontigous networks.

As I'm working as a technical instructor I used a lot of his examples to eplain my students some of the inside concepts of IP routing.

I strongly recommend this book to everybody who intends to dive into the world of IP internetworking. This book is not only for beginners it also provides some valuable information for intermediate users or even experts.

Very well done, thank you, Robert:-)

Excellent material, covering vital IP fundamentals, for people who intend understanding and supporting IP networks. Notwithstanding the fact that technical books are by far the most difficult to write, for their appeal to their intended audience, and the intended knowledge transfer, this book achieves these feats rather well. This book would have benefitted greatly from a knowledgeable proof reader. It is possible that people completely new to this material, may suffer somewhat.

I'm not a network engineer, I'm a recruiter specializing in recruiting network engineers, so much of this book is a bit too technical for me.

However, this book has been an extremely valuable reference for someone like me who at times will need to research specific networking topics.

IP Routing Primer speaks in a manner that is easy to understand.

This is a an excellent book. Contrary to its title, I do not think this book is for raw beginners. Nor does this book help for the CCNA. But its loaded with supposedly "basic" topics that you must know and that other books just gloss over, like: route summarization, default routes(in detail), VLSM, IP Unnumbered, Discontiguous Networks, etc. All of the above subjects are covered in the context of how routing is affected.