CCNA Exam experience May 12, 2026
I have a bit of background in Computer Networking. I studied it 5 years ago (2021). This year I finally decided to try write the exam and face my fears (2026).
I started my solid review on MARCH 19. I am working full time 8-5, so I have a bit tight schedule. during the weekdays I spend 1hour to study in the morning(waking up early), then another study time for about 4-5hrs after work.
Then on weekends I rest on Saturdays, Saturday is the Sabbath. I spend the whole day to the Lord not doing anything related to the exam, but reading God's word I also went to nature for a walk or easy hike that way I find my self relaxed and recovered from being overloaded with CCNA info it is very helpful to have some time for REST. On Sundays I spend the whole day studying 6am-10pm with breaks of course but definitely I sacrifice a bit of family time and outdoor hobbies just for this BIG EXAM I am preparing (I take it very seriously).
The first two weeks I took Stormwind CCNA Course, access to this material was provided by my employer (it was an extra blessing). In Stormwind you can have pre course exam (they called it placement exam) it will give you an opportunity to gauge how much Networking knowledge you have prior taking the course, And then 8 sets of recorded fully loaded exam ready course lead by Raymond Lacoste a CiscoPress CCNP author. You can also join a live session but it will be on a certain schedule. this week they are running live session but they are already on day 3 live session are nice because it is interactive you can drop questions then the instructor can answer live. They also have materials for lab, they provide you lab access and tools you need, you can have a exam ready pdf slides too, there is a exam crash videos mini nuggets about 2 to 4 minutes clip (my favorite) very helpful to remember the important exam information you need watch this weeks before your exam or just use it if your are just refreshing your knowledge if you don't need the whole 8 sets of full CCNA course. Also recently they added flashcards at the end of each video sessions, that is new and I see it very useful for remembering the exam important topics. Lastly you will take the 100questions (exam readiness) Exam. I would say Stormwind is very accurate if you take time not rushing Stormwind will definitely help you PASS the Exam.
I am not paid by Stormwind I am just sharing what I have experience from them incase some of you heard about them and are interested. I also took other materials like the very popular free YouTube course from JITL. I started on April 7-April 28 at this time I have already learned a lot from Stormwind but I heard lots of test takers are using JITL, so I went downloaded the Anki flashcards, took it every after JITL YouTube video sessions, I also took all JITL mini Labs, very useful and IMPORTANT for the exam to know how to lab and to troubleshoot and when you lab you would understand more about networking about the things you are studying. It will all make sense. I also took the JITL Mega Lab completed it in sets, finally finished it 4 days before my Exam day. I took all Stormwind LABs too, there is a Citrix remote computer they provide you.
I also bought the OCG CCNA Vol.1 and Vol.2 just did skim reading, I spent more time of key exam topics only.
FINALLY - BOSON
I would recommend it to everyone to use BOSON. again no paid endorsement. They don't need to pay us, they already have so much testimonies. TAKE BOSON as a tool to study, there are things that I am weak of that BOSON help me find. Read each words each explanation, study it. Use it as a study tool not to memorize the question on exams because Boson is not the actual exam, although the idea and troubleshooting skills requirement are similar. Set your browser as full screen when you take the simulation mode to feel the actual exam experience, set your phone to silent mode, close your door, tell family you are on the exam give you 2 hour undisturbed. Without Boson I would be very less confident, because BOSON mimics the Actual EXAM environment, 4 to 5 LABs then 74 or 72 Multiple choice, drag drop exams. Boson will definitely prepare you.
I took BOSON on April 29-May 10. Took Boson Exam A to E all of them. For some reason my Scores are not the desired CCNA passing score but I pass my Actual CCNA Exam on May 12, 2026 at a Testing Center 10 in the morning.
I passed some Boson Exam but mostly failed, I also barely passed the Stormwind Exam Readiness exam.
Practice Score in BOSON worst = 66% Best Score = 93%
Stormwind Score worst = 60% best 84%
Finally Actual CCNA Exam. Best score = 92% on IP connectivity, worst is 60% = Automation.
Network Fundamental = 85%
Security = 73%
IP Services = 70%
Network Access = 65%
But end of the day what's important is I PASSED the actual exam.
Praise God for this blessing. without Him I cannot pass for sure. That's all I asked to God, just help me pass give me strenght, no matter how many hours I take and I know page by page but if I panic and lost everything during the exam day, it will be a failure.
So Pray daily. pray on the exam day. God bless all aspiring CCNA future Network Engineer.