The Author Matthew Gast in his book 802.11 wireless networks brings insights and recommendations to this complex Wireless Networking world. This book is exceptionally through and exceedingly informative as everything has been presented in a well-organised manner. The diagrams clearly communicate various aspects of 802.11 networking. Wireless Networks offer several advantages over fixed (or wired) networks, with mobility, flexibility, ease and speed of deployment and low-cost at the top of the list. After a general introduction to wireless networks, this practical book moves quickly into the details of the 802.11 standard and the networking components we work with like mobile devices with wireless cards, access points and the distributed system. 802.11 MAC (Media Access Control) fundamentals describes the standard, splits the MAC layer functionality from the physical medium access. Data encapsulation in 802.11 frames helps the network administrators to understand the frame sequences used for data transfer. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy protocol) is the basis for much of the work in wireless LAN security. The advantages and drawbacks of WEP and to overcome the flaws of WEP, two new linked-layer encryption protocols TKIP and CCMP are discussed in the book. 802.1x management operations and Power Management features incorporated into the MAC that allow battery-powered stations to sleep and pick up buffered traffic at periodic intervals are discussed. Author Matthew Gast also supplies impressive detail on the physical layers. The physical layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) adds a preamble to form the complete frame and its own header, while the Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sub layer includes modulation details. Next the frequency hopping (FH) describes the oldest physical layer with 802.11. Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) and HR/DSSS (802.11b) are described. 802.11 a uses 5 Ghz which operates at 54 Mbps. This physical layer uses Modulation techniques known as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). The book also discusses the the extended rate (802.11g) which uses OFDM technology in 2.4 Ghz frequency. The current development in 802.11n standard based on multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) technology for higher speed is introduced. 802.11 hardware implementation choices are described. Using 802.11 access points describes the equipment used on the infrastructure end of 802.11 networks. Site planning and project management for designing a large scale wireless network is discussed to ensure that the network has sufficient capacity to satisfy user demands. The book also discusses how to use wireless network analysers and also how to build an analyzer using Ethereal and what to look for troubleshooting to common problems. 802.11 performance tuning describes how to increase throughput. To conclude, it is the one book that provides a full spectrum view of 802.11, from the minute details of the specification, to deployment, monitoring, and troubleshooting. The wireless world is rapidly changing, but this book provides solid fundamentals that apply even today.