If you are going to take a networking exam like CCNA, CCNP… it is better to practice with real routers. But when the budget is not big enough or you can only access to hardware in your school then router simulator softwares are the best things you can get for free. The followings are a number of free and popular router simulators you can download and practice with:
GNS3 – GNS3 is a graphical network simulator that allows simulation of complex networks. It is an excellent complementary tool to real labs for Cisco network engineers, administrators and people wanting to pass certifications such as CCNA, CCNP, CCIP or CCIE. This project is an open source, free program that may be used on multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and MacOS X.
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Packet Tracer – Packet Tracer 5.0 is the latest version of Cisco Networking Academy’s comprehensive networking technology teaching and learning software. Innovative features of Packet Tracer 5.0, including powerful simulation, visualization, authoring, assessment, and collaboration capabilities, will help students and teachers collaborate, solve problems, and learn concepts in an engaging and dynamic social environment. Moreover, it’s totally free! You can download this software but you need toregister first or you can find a mirror download with google (with keyword “download packet tracer”)
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SemSim – The free trial version (2.3MB) offers some CCNA exam router simulation labs & 20 flash cards
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Boson NetSim – Boson offers three certification-focused products, NetSim for CCENT 7.0, NetSim for CCNA 7.0 and NetSim for CCNP 7.0. The NetSim for CCNA 7.0 product contains CCNA-specific lab exercises that cover the skill set you will need to prepare for your CCNA exam. The demo version (21.58MB) is a good choice to get started.
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CertExams offers advanced network simulators including router / switch / terminal simulator. The simulators help in preparing for networking exams such as ccna or jncia. It would also be very helpful for those who want to get started with configuring Cisco or Juniper routers in a simulated environment. The demo version (6.95MB) is limited to:
- Six lab exercises
- Router simulator is limited to User EXEC, Previleged EXEC, and Global Configuration mode commands.
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RouterSim’s CCNA Network Visualizer – You can design, build and configure your own network. The demo version is 44.49MB. It is ideal for:
- Anyone studying for the Cisco® CCNA™ 640-802 exam
- Deployment over a LAN network
- Distance education and deployment on a Citrix server or Microsoft Terminal Services
- Corporate trainers and employees
- Students at colleges, universities, and technical institutes
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