I passed the ENARSI exam on my 4th attempt, and here is what the ENARSI taught me overall. Before I start I just want to say this is not a comprehensive overview, but the reality of how the exam shows you where you are as a network engineer.
If you don’t get below the surface of a concept the exam will expose you for lack of understanding. Learned this on the first attempt with the boat load of MPLS questions slowing me down as I didn’t get below the MPLS surface.
You need to invest in your training (i.e. Time and $$$). I skated by (CCNA & CCNP ENCOR) with just Boson Exsim, Kevin Wallace videos, Some physical Routers & Switches, and skills & a few blessings. For the ENARSI I needed to build some decent sized labs for the routing protocols along with things related to routing, and I read white papers, and finally decided to pay for Rene’s ENARSI course which I am glad I did! Basically I had to become a sponge for knowledge, and it’s hard when you have experience, but remember you never stop learning.
I played sports growing up and the one thing I learned was to trust the process, and it’s the same with studying for the ENARSI exam. It might take a year or two for you to grasp the concepts well enough for you to take the exam but that’s ok as the process will make you a better engineer in the long run. I took my 3rd very unprepared as I rushed so I could get the free retake deal, but on the 4th attempt I slowed down and worked on depth instead of width.
Troubleshooting, and surprisingly chatgpt drove home this point while slightly insulting me . Verbatim it said that with 1 to 2 show commands you should have an idea of what the problem is and how to fix it, and what separates good engineers vs. great engineers is that great engineers don’t chase configs but that they isolate the problem which stuck with me. I think that conversation changed the way I looked at the exam overall.
I hope and pray this helps someone as this was a trying journey for me, and the 4th was the charm.
Thank you deeply for sharing your experiences. This is so useful for those who are preparing for their exams. You have confirmed experientially the process that must be followed to achieve success. Thanks so much for your insight and the time you spent in sharing these thoughts. I wish you success in your next certification exam on the 1st try, learning from your past experiences. Keep networking!
Hello Leo, today I took my second attempt and I failed, I feel I am well prepared, but on any of my tries I have not been able to finish the exam before the time expired, in both, I have run out of time. I recently subscribed to Network Lessons to practice on their TEST exam they have. So far I have used OCG, Kevin Wallace, BOSON, CISCO practice enarsi Exam and INE. I have completed all the labs and questions on those courses successfully, however I feel like more than by my knowledge, I am failing because of speed. Do you have any advice for me before my third attempt? Thank you in advance
Congratulations on your persistence, that in itself is a success! Failing due to running out of time is a very different problem from failing due to lack of knowledge, and it is entirely fixable.
Based on everything you described, it sounds like your technical preparation is already strong. The real issue is exam execution: speed, pacing, and decision-making under time pressure. For a test like ENARSI, you need to be very aware of your time budget, move quickly through easier questions, and avoid spending too long trying to perfect a difficult one. A good strategy is to answer confidently and fast where you can, make educated guesses when necessary, and never let one hard question steal time from several easier ones.
The biggest improvements will likely come from changing how you practice. Focus less on learning new content and more on timed exam simulation. Practice with a strict countdown, no pauses, no notes, and review not only wrong answers, but also questions that took you too long. For lab or troubleshooting items, use a structured workflow and targeted show commands rather than scrolling through full configurations, since that wastes valuable time. It also helps to build instant recall for common facts and failure patterns so you are not reasoning them out during the exam.
Take heart in the fact that this is more of a speed and process problem, and not a knowledge problem. With focused timed practice and stronger time management, it is very realistic to improve before your third attempt.
If you’d like us to help you develop a more detailed strategy, feel free to let us know. Share with us what you have done so far, and we can make suggestions on how to improve it. Sometimes a small adjustment in approach can make a big difference when it comes to managing time during the test.
We wish you the very best on your next attempt and hope to hear good news from you soon!
Thank you Laz for your response, i was kind of down yesterday, because this was the second time I failed even when i feel well prepared. I really want to get more speed by doing the exams you guys offered here and by completing the boson labs, if you have any other recommendations i will be more than glad to hear them. Thank you again for your words!
I understand you feeling down, it is only natural. The CCNP ENARSI certification exam is one of the most difficult CCNP exams because it is almost entirely focused on troubleshooting advanced technologies like OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, route redistribution, DMVPN, IPsec/IKEv2, infrastructure security, and services. And all of that under strict time constraints. So you’re not alone in your experience or how you feel.
The only other thing I can suggest is to focus on those things that will save you time. One thing that will be helpful is to get more familiar with the output of show commands. That way, you can more quickly decipher what you see and get to a conclusion. I know that when I look at show command output, I like to take my time (when there’s no time pressure) to make sure I comprehend what I’m seeing, but you need to speed that up.
This includes the use of output modifiers using the pipe “|” character, like section, exclude, include etc.
And one more thing. Once you’ve answered a question, don’t second-guess yourself. Trust your instincts since you’ve got the knowledge. I find that a lot of time is lost rehashing a question I already answered.
I hope all that is helpful and I wish you success in your next attempt! If we can be of any other help, let us know!
Thanks a lot Laz, you are right about the second guessing, I realized that even when I had answered the question correctly, I spent more time reading all the question again, which of course made me lose valuable time. I will keep doing labs and hit the exam again.
I have another question, do you know if it is possible to copy and paste from console to console of the devices in the Labs of the Exam?
I tried to do it but it did not work in the way that I regularly use in the console where I practice.
Hmm, that’s a good question. The Pearson VUE testing platform uses its own embedded terminal emulator, so things will definitely behave differently than what you’re used to. If there’s a built-in notepad or scratch pad in the interface, you may be able to use that to copy and paste commands, but again, I’m not sure. For a definitive answer, you may want to ask Pearson VUE directly.
In any case, I believe that copy and paste between device consoles in the certification exam environment is unreliable at best. For this reason, I suggest you focus on trying to improve your mastery of IOS CLI shortcuts, including Tab for auto-complete, up arrow for recalling previous commands, the ? for context-sensitive help, and using the command abbreviations like int g0/0 instead of interface gigabitethernet0/0.
When you do your home labs, deliberately avoid using copy and paste so you can become more familiar with the commands and get faster.
. Verbatim it said that with 1 to 2 show commands you should have an idea of what the problem is and how to fix it, and what separates good engineers vs. great engineers is that great engineers don’t chase configs but that they isolate the problem which stuck with me. I think that conversation changed the way I looked at the exam overall.