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

Thankfully, Mike Meyers, "Network+ Certification All-In-One Exam Guide" is a glowing example of how lots of experience, great writing and skillful editing can unite to form a beautiful book. This is rare in the days of, "can't wait to get it to press (profit)" publishing.

Meyers writes VERY clearly, gives detailed examples, plenty of illustrations (which really helps me to remember) and terrific, easy-to-understand analogies. It is actually a joy to read!

I haven't taken any practice tests yet, so I'm unsure how well Meyer's focus and depth are appropriate for the exam. However, it seems to me that Meyer's differs from other authors in that he provides a lot of detail, but then explains the details in such a way to make them understandable and thus EASY to remember! I really quite amazed because I haven't yet found an author who is as capable of doing this.

Meyer's tone is perfectly balanced between the two extremes of being too dry and too humorous. I can take the dry humorless tone of some authors but the intrusive- often stupid- humor of other authors have lead me to sometimes return books the same day I've purchased them. In short, I find Meyer's tone unobtrusive and actually refreshing- and I tend to be very picky about such things.

Great job Mike!

Update July 11, 2004:

Ok, I've taken my Network+ exam and passed (846 out of 900). Meyers book was not the only preparation material I used though. The Exam Cram 2 Network+ review book is excellent. It goes into more detail than Meyer's book, but you really need to first read Meyer's book to understand the Exam Cram 2 fully. In addition, I used the Transcender practice exams which were right on the money- very similar to the actual exam. I also tried the 2nd Boson practice exam which was only ok. The practice exams in Meyer's book were much easier than the actual Network+ exam but is a good review before tackling the tougher Transcender exams. Best of luck to you!


Not bad..but use a good exam practice cd   April 18, 2004
Mike Meyers is funny in his computer humor (probably meant for true computer geeks). He really needs to focus more on the facts of the exam instead of attempting to be the other Mike Meyers...which he isn't. I like the book it was really easy to read and he made a point to specify what pertained to the exam. I passed the exam on 4/16/2004 with a 740. I have to admit I used the transcender simulated exam test and it was fairly close. I think in the end that you need to know the OSI layers inside and out and focus on the ridiculous memorization of the PORTS for ftp, smtp...etc to pass. But if you read this and do some exam prep it should be a breeze. keep up the good work Mike.