Best sim for switches / ICND2

I have been using GNS3 and it's amazing for routing, however it seems like I definately need something else for switching. The http://networksims.com/ simulator seems to be very complete and inexpensive, but I've heard its buggy. Is this true? If so, do the bugs affect the switch portion of the sim very much?

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Comments

mikej412

All Simulators are buggy.

Networksims.com looks like it's a bunch of scripted exercises, not a real simulator like Boson. But it does at least have exercises for things other products don't even try to cover (like wireless & voice). And the price isn't bad, even considering is has a subscription pricing model.

Boson is fine as long as you stick with it's labs.... but if you know your stuff you can figure out a software bug from a misconfiguration when you try things that aren't from their labs.

Just remember though that when you go for a job interview you're going to be competing against lots of people that have already worked with real Cisco Equipment or at least studied with real Cisco Equipment. If you're in a poor 3rd world country where almost no one has access to real equipment, then you'd be fine using a simulator.