CCNA 640-802 Network Simulator

[Tomcat Sentry]

Hi All

Although I see Packet Tracer and GNS are often recommended on the threads here I was wondering if anyone has experience of this product:

http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/pro ... 1587202166

It looks to me like this could be the closest match to the test simulator (it has Pearson on it) and it has Wendell Odom's name as well (I found his study his books helpful). Amazon have it listed for £61.28 which seems like a good deal.


Thanks
Scott

[koniejo67]

Hey Scott,

I purchased the Cisco sim (Cisco Marketplace not Amazon) and was a little disappointed in one area. My purchase was version 1.0.001. If I could afford to ( I can't), I think actual hardware is the way to go. The labs with the sim are pretty good and arranged in a logical order. The lessons are informative. My disappointment actually concerns the gui itself, and the lack of any built in personalization. I have poor vision and not being able to resize or change color/fonts is a major sticking point for me. If you don't have access to hardware, or a physical lab, the sim will help you become comfortable and gain experience with both routers/switches, not to mention increase your knowledge base.

Hope this helps, John

[Eric Belrose]

I purchased this product and had alot of fun with it, until I realized how restrictive and unforgiving the licence agreement is. If you like me have a home network and like to work on it on more than one workstation you will eventually run out of installations. I have imaged my computers, and used it at a school I attended only on 1 workstation that we reimaged for different phases, but there is a limit of 5 installations I believe. If you go beyond that it locks you out of the ability to install it again. I asked them to open up another for me for a new laptop and they said no.

I understand why, but it isn't fair that I pay for my software, and use it only for my use and I am so heavily restricted. Not even other people in my family but enough ranting.

Suffice to say that I also have Boson Ex-Sim and am very pleased to say, that the other day I came accross the exact same situation, and even when their helpdesk was closed on a weekend someone happened to check their email and "opened up another 5 slots for me", I only needed one. I wish I could say the same for this product. I got it half price cause I bought it early enough, but now I wish I had a refund so I could put it towards the Boson product, which costs slightly more but I have used it in the past (older versions) and I have to say it is superior.

This is a nice product, very direct and to the point, but that issue soured me to it.

Again nice product for the learning, but don't install it too many times. Software continues to work on only one of my computers, I don't dare format this one, ever. I would recommend a different product, if I format or get a new NIC I will not be able to use the software because that is how the licence is based. It is sad because before that incident, I was showing it to people, and recommending it, because it is cost effective. I was basically told the licence is computer- based not user-based and you are technically only allowed 1 workstation at a time.

If this is not something that you think will ever bother you, I would highly recommend this product. But I wish I had known about this before I installed it my 5 times. I would have commuted with my laptop instead of installing it at the school. I drove to the school would have been just as easy.


Buyer Beware on this one.

[Tomcat Sentry]

Thank you both for your comments. I managed to acquire some hardware (2 x 2611, wic-2ts and dce/dte cable) and got that up and running but for various reasons I've felt a need to go with some simulation. Mainly because I'm self studying I thought having some structured labs would be helpful but also because ultimately the exam uses sims.

I appreciate your warnings about the licencing, it does sound unfair. I'm looking to use this software for a few weeks and take the exam so hopefully won't encounter this issue. For future certification or projects I accept that I would have to look for an alternative.


Thanks again
Scottt