Just finished reading 'Wireless Community Networks'. It's a worthwhile read and I took a lot of good info from it. Would have liked to have more info about 802.16. I was surprised to see a lot of 802.11a info but not a word about 802.11n which is now the latest greatest. Perhaps you'd be better off waiting for the 3rd edition.

This is one of the most practical technical books I read. It covers all aspects that should be considered for wireless community networks, not only in regards to wireless (like db loss and stuff) but also some networking aspects like NAT.
Good description of some of the largest wireless communitie in the US as well.

This field of wireless networking is burgeoning. The uptake has continued unabated since Flickenger published this book almost two years ago.

Readers would benefit from an upgrading of this book to a newer edition. For one thing, the latest hardware offerings from vendors could be discussed. But also the IEEE wireless standards have moved forward. While the book doesn't go into the details of these, a newer edition could explain what the implications of the changing standards are on you.

For one thing, WiMax is starting to emerge as an alternative to WiFi. It may not be fully defined yet, but it's close enough that planning might start on using it. Its proposed maximum range far exceeds that of WiFi. Though there is the tradeoff of ultimately fewer users who can share this bandwidth over a given region.

I have a T1 line to my home in the country and wanted to provide my neighbors within a mile or so with a share of my bandwidth. What I lacked was a knowledge of what components to buy, what the practical differences are between components, ways to throttle bandwidth to individual neighbors, how to prevent bandwidth theft by neighbors who are not sharing in the cost of the T1 line, which components are "safe buys," what is involved in installation, what other skills are required, and where I can buy the needed components.

The title of this book started with "Building," so I hoped that it would be a practical book that focused on actually building a wireless network. Unfortunately, I was disappointed because the "building" is at an academic level, not a practical, commercial one. The requirements I have above are treated poorly, if at all. So, while this book may be great for people looking for a starter in becoming engineers or for professors looking for an academic textbook, it is less satisfactory for consumers looking to build a community network. Some specifics by book chapter:

1. Wireless Community Networks: history, some problems for ISPs, and what happens if the shift goes from the ISP to the individual network member. Nothing practical here.

2. Defining Project Scope: It doesn't. Instead, it talks about protocols such as 802.11, 802.11a, .... The "Hardware Requirements" section doesn't take you from your needs to what you'll require. It simply says that you will require hardware based on your needs and says you'll need to survey your site.

3. Network Layout: Is a bottom-up chapter with buzz words: Layer n, BSS, IBSS, DHCP, DNS, NAT, WEP, more on protocols, and security. This chapter fails to take one from problems to solutions. But, now you know the terms when you talk about actually building a WiFi network.

4. Using Access Points: Defines a lot of them, not how they solve your problems.

5. Host-Based Networking: The preface says this chapter provides a step-by-step guide to building your own access points using Linux and some hardware. But, the chapter itself just defines some terms and has a few scripts. It's not a step-by-step guide from my perspective, and it doesn't define the problem that is being solved nor who would want this.

The chapters that follow follow the pattern of bottom-up thinking: defining terms and disconnected ideas. This book would have been much better if it lived up to its title and had chapters that dealt with different end-user needs (different kinds of networks), and how each of these problems would be solved, providing answers to the requirements I listed above in my first paragraph.

I give this book not one star, but two because it does provide some terminology that serves as a starting point with wireless vendors for the discussion of actually building a wireless community network.

I found this book to be very practical and full of useful links. I read it cover to cover in two days. The book will have a greater value for people with no experience in the WLAN area. However I think readers at all levels will enjoy reading it.