This book, unlike Cisco Press books, is very coherent, very clear and goes to the right level of depth to give you proper understanding of the material. What is more important it will give you understanding of how to apply the information on the job.

One tip however, all remote access books I looked at miss one important piece - they do not explain the complete set of interrelationships between serial interfaces, asynchronous interfaces, lines, controllers, vtys, ttys, etc. Therefore you need to read the introduction section from "Cisco IOS 12.0 Dial Solutions". It is a horrible read and you will have to fight through it. Read it five times, if you have to. But, it will give you the mental map and the foundation needed to understand any book on this topic.


Great book, just like their previous book   April 26, 2000
A. Tsai (Berkely, CA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

As I recall, both authors were listed as co-authors with Terry Slattery on a previous book titled "Adv. Ip Routing With Cisco Networks" which received great reviews. All work for Chesapeake (great qualifications).

The book contains lots of helpful examples, configs, etc.. Big help on typically tough topics.

On a side note, Bill Burton is also an instructor for the BCRAN class and from some of his students comments, he also did a great job teaching the class, so he definitely knows what he is writing about.


Remote Access for Cisco Networks - Bill Burton   June 8, 2000
Larry Anderson
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I had the good fortune to take Bill Burton's BCRAN class at Chesapeake not long ago. He is an excellent and enthusiastic teacher and that is reflected in his book. It is written in a witty, conversational style, which makes it easy to follow. There are lots of sample configurations for the most common remote access configuration scenarios. He "holds your hand" as you are walked through these, including the 'show' and 'debug' commands you need when things aren't going well.

He notes in the Introduction, that the book is intended more as a practical reference to use in real-life than as an exhaustive BCRAN test preparation guide, which I think is a pretty accurate assessment. I've read some parts in depth, and skimmed most of the rest of the book. I expect it to be a useful and accessible guide in configuring all flavors of remote access. I bought the book because of my classroom experience, and was not disappointed.


Great book, just like their previous book   April 26, 2000
A. Tsai (Berkely, CA)
As I recall, both authors were listed as co-authors with Terry Slattery on a previous book titled "Adv. Ip Routing With Cisco Networks" which received great reviews. All work for Chesapeake (great qualifications).

The book contains lots of helpful examples, configs, etc.. Big help on typically tough topics.

On a side note, Bill Burton is also an instructor for the BCRAN class and from some of his students comments, he also did a great job teaching the class, so he definitely knows what he is writing about.