Boson NetSim Alternative for CCNA: Graded Troubleshooting Labs and Practice Exams for $39 Once
Boson NetSim is the most complete guided lab set sold for the CCNA, and it costs $179 a year, renewing until you cancel. If what you need is practice finding faults in networks you did not build, plus practice exams that tell you which exam domains to fix, there is a one-time option. This page compares them honestly, with Boson's prices read off its own site in October 2026.
Short answer: Boson NetSim for CCNA is the best guided CCNA lab curriculum: 85 labs that walk you through configuration, for $179 a year or $59 for three months, both auto-renewing ($259 a year bundled with ExSim-Max practice exams). If you want troubleshooting practice and practice exams instead, the FigigExams CCNA pack is $39 once: 9 browser-based troubleshooting scenarios with 28 different hidden faults, 5 full practice exams (510 questions), and a Study Path that maps every score to Cisco's exam topics. Future exam versions are included. One scenario and one full exam are free.
If you only need somewhere to build topologies, Cisco Packet Tracer is free and is still the right first tool.
In This Guide
Try a graded troubleshooting lab before you pay anyone
The code opens the Branch Office scenario: a network someone else broke, one fault to find and fix from an IOS-style console, graded on the network itself. The same code unlocks a full-length CCNA practice exam. Nothing to install.
CCNA-EXAM-FULL
Open the free scenario
Already have an account? Log in and open it
What Boson NetSim costs in 2026
Boson sells NetSim as a subscription, and every term renews automatically until you cancel. These are the prices on Boson's product pages, checked 3 October 2026:
| Option | Price | Renewal | Two years of study |
|---|---|---|---|
| NetSim for CCNA, 1 year | $179 | Auto-renews yearly | $358 |
| NetSim for CCNA, 3 months | $59 | Auto-renews every 3 months | $472 (8 terms) |
| NetSim + ExSim-Max for CCNA | $259 a year | Auto-renews yearly | $518 |
| FigigExams CCNA pack (scenarios + exams) | $39 once | None. Lifetime access | $39 |
The renewal matters more than the sticker price. Most CCNA candidates study for three to six months, and many sit the exam more than once. A licence that renews while you are still studying, or after you have passed, is the cost people forget to count. Our Boson ExSim price breakdown has the same arithmetic for the practice exams.
ExSim vs NetSim: what each Boson product does
Boson sells two separate CCNA products, and people often mix them up:
| Boson ExSim-Max for CCNA | Boson NetSim for CCNA | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Practice exams | Lab simulator |
| What you get | 5 practice exams, 370 questions | 85 guided labs |
| Price | $99 a year, auto-renew | $179 a year, auto-renew |
| Answers the question | "Do I know enough to pass?" | "Can I configure it?" |
Buying both costs $259 a year. The FigigExams CCNA pack covers both jobs in one purchase, in a different style. The practice exams are full-length, timed and explained. The labs are troubleshooting scenarios, not guided configuration. And one Study Path joins them: your exam results decide which scenario to open next.
NetSim vs FigigExams, side by side
| Boson NetSim for CCNA | FigigExams CCNA pack | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $179/yr or $59/3 months, auto-renew | $39 once, lifetime |
| Labs | 85 guided labs | 9 scenarios, 28 different hidden faults |
| Style | Step-by-step tasks: configure what the lab asks for | A broken network and a symptom; find the fault yourself |
| Grading | Compares your configuration with the expected one | Graded on the state of the network, so any valid fix passes |
| Repeat practice | Re-run the guided lab | A different fault is drawn on each run |
| Practice exams included | No (ExSim-Max is $99/yr extra) | Yes: 5 exams, 510 questions, an explanation on every question |
| Results mapped to Cisco's exam topics | Not built in | Yes: Study Path weights every score by Cisco's domain weights |
| Where it runs | Browser | Browser, nothing to install |
Where NetSim is the better buy: if you want a structured lab curriculum that walks you through configuring every CCNA technology, NetSim's 85 labs are far more than our 9 scenarios, and we do not offer a build-anything sandbox. Our console is an IOS-style simulation, not real Cisco IOS. Use it alongside Packet Tracer or Cisco Modeling Labs, not instead of them.
Where the one-time pack is the better buy: if you want to practise the part of the exam that a guided lab cannot test, which is diagnosing a fault you did not plant. CCNA 200-301 v2.0 makes that explicit. From 3 February 2027, seven exam topics use the verb troubleshoot or diagnose; v1.1 has none (what changes in v2.0).
What a troubleshooting scenario looks like
Each scenario is a small live network with one fault drawn from a list. You get a symptom ("the warehouse cannot reach head office") and an IOS-style console on every device. You run the show commands, find the cause, fix it, and submit. The grade checks the network, not your keystrokes.
OSPF
Three Sites on OSPF
Three routers, one OSPF area, and a site that never learns the routes. Wrong area, mismatched timers, a passive interface, or a network statement that covers nothing.
EtherChannel
Bundle the Access Uplink
An LACP bundle that will not form. One end set to on, a member left down, or the staff VLAN pruned off the channel.
The other seven cover branch WAN connectivity, VLANs and trunks, static return routes, NAT and ACLs, IPv6 dual stack, port security, and DHCP relay with snooping. The full list, with the show output each one runs on, is on the CCNA troubleshooting labs page.
Mapped to the CCNA exam topics
Every scenario is tied to the Cisco exam topics it drills: v1.1 until 2 February 2027, v2.0 from 3 February 2027. Seven of the nine land on a v2.0 topic that Cisco words as troubleshoot.
| Scenario | CCNA v2.0 topic (from 3 Feb 2027) |
|---|---|
| Branch Office Connectivity Failure (free) | 1.3 Troubleshoot IPv4 addressing · 2.4 L2/L3 connectivity · 3.2 Static routing |
| Campus VLAN: Restore the Uplink | 2.1 Trunks · 2.2 Access-port VLANs · 2.4 Troubleshoot connectivity |
| Bundle the Access Uplink | 2.1 LACP EtherChannel · 2.5 Rapid PVST+ |
| Return Path: Two-Way Routing | 3.2 Troubleshoot IPv4/IPv6 static routing |
| Three Sites on OSPF | 3.3 OSPFv2/OSPFv3 · 2.4 Troubleshoot L3 connectivity |
| Dual Stack: IPv6 Beside IPv4 | 1.4 Troubleshoot IPv6 addressing · 3.2 IPv6 static routing |
| The Office Edge: NAT and a Filter | 4.3 NAT/PAT · 4.6 IPv4 ACLs |
| Port Security: The Uplink That Locked Itself Out | 4.7 Layer 2 security |
| DHCP Relay and Snooping | 1.7 Troubleshoot DHCPv4 relay · 4.7 DHCP snooping |
The v1.1 mapping, and the domain weights behind both versions, are on the CCNA exam topics page.
From a practice score to the lab you need
NetSim and ExSim are separate products, so nothing connects a weak exam score to the lab that would fix it. On FigigExams the two are joined:
Sit a practice exam
A full, timed CCNA paper with an explanation and an exam tip on every question.
Read your Study Path
Your score per exam domain, weighted by Cisco's own domain weights, so you fix the gap that costs the most marks first.
Open the scenario it names
Each domain lists the troubleshooting scenarios that drill the topics you lost marks on.
How the weighting works, with a worked CCNA example: the CCNA Study Path explained.
Which one should you buy?
- You learn best by being walked through every configuration: Boson NetSim. Buy the 3-month term if you can finish in time, and cancel the renewal.
- You have done the configuration labs (Packet Tracer, Jeremy's IT Lab, a course) and want to test diagnosis and exam readiness: the FigigExams CCNA pack, $39 once.
- You are not sure: start free. Packet Tracer for building, then the free Branch Office scenario and the free full exam. Your scores will tell you which gap is bigger.
Redeem the code, open the broken branch
Five devices, one hidden fault, about twenty minutes. When you finish, a full-length CCNA practice exam is waiting on the same code.
CCNA-EXAM-FULL · no install · log in
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Boson NetSim worth it for CCNA?
It is the most complete guided CCNA lab set on sale: 85 labs, each graded against the expected configuration. It costs $179 a year or $59 for three months, and both terms auto-renew. It is worth it if you want to be walked through configuration. If you have already done configuration labs and want troubleshooting practice and practice exams, a one-time pack such as the FigigExams CCNA pack ($39) covers that for less.
How much does Boson NetSim cost in 2026?
NetSim for CCNA is $179 for a 1-year subscription or $59 for 3 months. Bundled with ExSim-Max practice exams it is $259 a year. All three auto-renew until you cancel (Boson's product pages, checked October 2026).
What is the difference between Boson ExSim and NetSim?
ExSim-Max is Boson's practice exam product (5 CCNA exams, 370 questions, $99 a year). NetSim is its lab simulator (85 guided labs, $179 a year). They are sold separately or together for $259 a year.
What is the best Boson NetSim alternative for CCNA?
It depends on the job. For building topologies for free: Cisco Packet Tracer. For real Cisco images: Cisco Modeling Labs (CML-Free runs 5 nodes at no cost). For graded troubleshooting practice plus practice exams for one payment: the FigigExams CCNA pack ($39 once: 9 troubleshooting scenarios with 28 faults, 5 practice exams, Study Path). Full ranking: best CCNA lab simulators.
Is there a free alternative to Boson NetSim?
Yes. Cisco Packet Tracer is free with a NetAcad account and covers most CCNA configuration. CML-Free is Cisco's no-cost edition of Cisco Modeling Labs (5 nodes). For graded troubleshooting, the FigigExams Branch Office scenario is free with the code CCNA-EXAM-FULL, along with a full-length CCNA practice exam.
Boson NetSim vs Packet Tracer: which is better for CCNA?
Packet Tracer is free and better for building anything you like. NetSim is better if you want a structured set of labs with a grader. Neither hands you a network someone else broke, which is what the CCNA v2.0 troubleshoot topics (from 3 February 2027) test. Add troubleshooting scenarios for that.
Does Boson NetSim auto-renew?
Yes. Boson lists every NetSim and ExSim-Max term as "Auto-Renew. Cancel Anytime." Turn renewal off in your Boson account if you only want one term.
Can I practise CCNA troubleshooting in a browser?
Yes. FigigExams Troubleshooting Practice runs an IOS-style console in the browser: 9 CCNA scenarios, each with a hidden fault to find and fix, graded on the network. One scenario is free and there is nothing to install.
Will the FigigExams CCNA pack cover CCNA v2.0?
Yes. The pack is one payment for every exam and scenario in the CCNA certification, for life, including future versions of the exam. v2.0 replaces v1.1 on 3 February 2027.
Sources
Every competitor price and count on this page was read from the vendor's own page (checked 3 October 2026). Prices change; check before you buy.