Boson Router Simulator - very helpful, can create custom networks, I believe it is just like the real thing

i'm about two shakes from not passing ccna2 for the same lack of class/lab time--my module scores are alright,but the hands on stuff scares me--the smart guy tried and didn't make it--the building security cut us off/kicked us out

my teach gave us packet tracer which is a limited terminal emulation and simulation---it seems to work alright

The book "CCNA ,Cisco Certified Network Associate, Study Guide" by Todd Lammle, published by Sybex is (in my mind) the best coverage of the material. I wish I could say that the other books published by Sybex were as good, but they're not. The "Deluxe Edition" comes with an emulator on CD. The emulator is only good for CCNA. Lammle sells a CCNA emulator at www.routersim.com. I never used it.

Seriously folks, if you're trying to pass the exam without any hands-on experience with IOS, you may pass, but you're still an idiot.

The emulated questions on the CCNA exam are not very hard.

Here's a clue. the "help" question mark works on the commands that are relevant to the task.

The questions that blow your mind are the extremely trivial questions that are not covered in your prep material.