Extreme : Can this Wi-Fi book get any bigger?

After many months of work, the 6th edition of the Sybex Publishing Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA) Study Guide is available. Writing a book is a time-consuming and often aggravating process. However, when the finished edition arrives at my doorstep, I always react like Steve Martin does in this movie clip. The CWNA book is a 1000+ page Wi-Fi novel with a vendor-neutral viewpoint.

The CWNA paperback is available at Amazon and other online retailers. The Kindle edition and other digital formats are also available. The first edition of the CWNA Study Guide hit the shelves in 2006. As an author, I am always struck by how much the written word can be improved after the passage of time. Therefore, the entire book was updated with a fresh perspective.

With the release of the last edition, we had many people make fun of the enormous size of the book. Yes, the book makes a great doorstop, boat anchor, and requires a helicopter to deliver it. We enjoyed the jokes. But guess what? It has gotten even bigger with so much new content.

While the new edition is not a complete overhaul like the previous edition, many of the chapters have been enhanced with new topics, and much better graphics.

The book has new content about future design and security considerations for Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz frequency band. We also have new content about WPA3 security, cloud architecture, and an updated and expanded 802.11ax chapter. The WLAN Design chapter has also been greatly enhanced. As with all editions, every existing chapter has been reviewed and tweaked. All of these changes mean a much better and improved book.

Why is this book important?

Twenty years ago, most networking professionals were new to Wi-Fi, therefore the need to educate themselves about 802.11 technology was apparent. The CWNP program has long provided the foundation for networking professionals to pursue WLAN education.

The beauty of the CWNP program is the vendor-neutral approach towards education about 802.11 technology. Most of Extreme Networks's competitors recommend CWNA as a prerequisite for their own internal training classes, as does Extreme.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to personally thank my very good friend and co-author, David Westcott. David Westcott, CWNE #7, is an independent consultant with whom I have now written nine books.

As authors, we have been humbled by the thousands of individuals who have purchased previous editions of the CWNA Study Guide to assist in their pursuit of the CWNA certification, or simply to expand their Wi-Fi knowledge.

We are also humbled that many universities and colleges have selected the book as part of their curriculum for networking and wireless technology classes. In our travels, we have met many of our readers of previous editions of the book. We discovered that a large number of people who purchase the book use it as a reference guide in the workplace and not just as a study guide.

I also need to give a big shout-out to our technical editor, Ben Wilson. His Wi-Fi background and knowledge were invaluable to providing the amazing technical editing that this book deserved. And finally, thanks and a big 4-Way Handshake to Mark Hung, VP of Technology and Engineering of the Wi-Fi Alliance for his very gracious foreword.