How to Study for the Meraki Exam Without Hardware
You do not need a rack of Meraki gear to prepare for the 500-220 exam, but you do need somewhere to practise the click paths and design decisions it tests. This guide lists every real option for studying without your own licensed organisation, and where each one falls short.
Contents
Quick summary
| Takeaway | What it means |
|---|---|
| Several real options exist | You can use Meraki's trial gear programme, borrowed employer access, the always-on demo dashboard, or a simulator. |
| Each option has limits | Trial gear needs shipping and setup, borrowed access is read-mostly, and the demo dashboard is not exam-shaped. |
| The exam is dashboard-heavy | Design and Monitoring & Troubleshooting are each 30% of the 500-220 blueprint, so navigation practice matters. |
| Match the tool to the domain | Use whatever gives you the org/network rail, SSID config, and group policy paths the exam assumes. |
| A simulator fills the practice gap | When you have no org, a browser-based simulator reproduces the click paths without hardware or licences. |
What the 500-220 exam actually expects you to know
The Cisco Meraki Solutions Specialist exam, the 500-220, is weighted across four domains: Cloud Management at 15%, Design at 30%, Implementation at 25%, and Monitoring & Troubleshooting at 30%. Design and troubleshooting together make up 60% of the blueprint, which tells you where to spend your time.
Most of that content is not abstract theory. It assumes you can find your way around the Meraki Dashboard: switching between organisation and network views, configuring an SSID under Wireless, applying group policies, and reading the monitoring and troubleshooting pages. That is why access to a working dashboard, real or simulated, matters more here than for many other exams.
Option 1: Meraki's free trial gear programme
Cisco Meraki runs a programme that ships evaluation hardware so you can trial devices in a live dashboard. This is the closest you can get to the real thing, because it is the real thing, with genuine devices claimed into a genuine organisation.
The limits are practical. You have to qualify for and request the gear, wait for it to ship, and physically cable and claim it before you can do anything. The evaluation period is finite, so it suits a focused block of study rather than open-ended revision. If you only need to practise navigation and configuration paths, the setup overhead can outweigh the benefit.
Option 2: Borrowed access through your employer or an MSP
If you work for a company or managed service provider that already runs Meraki, ask for read access to a production organisation. Seeing a real deployment, with live networks, SSIDs, and event logs, is genuinely valuable for the Design and Monitoring & Troubleshooting domains.
The catch is that you rarely get to change anything. Nobody wants a study candidate editing group policies or firewall rules on a live client network, so your access is usually read-only or tightly scoped. You can observe how things are configured, but you cannot safely practise the full Implementation workflow. Treat borrowed access as a reference, not a lab.
Option 3: The always-on Meraki demo dashboard
Meraki publishes a public demo dashboard that anyone can log into. It is free, always available, and populated with sample networks, so it is a good way to see the real information architecture and the layout of the monitoring pages.
It is a demonstration environment, though, not a study tool. Configuration is restricted, the data is fixed sample data, and it is not organised around the 500-220 blueprint. You can look, and you can click around to learn the navigation, but you cannot drive your own scenarios or measure your readiness against the exam domains.
Option 4: Simulators
A simulator reproduces the dashboard experience without any hardware or licences. The point of a good one is not to fake the whole product, but to reproduce the parts the exam actually tests: the org and network rail, the paths to SSID and group policy configuration, and the navigation habits you are expected to have.
Simulators vary. Some are just screenshots with quiz questions bolted on; others let you follow real click paths and pair that with practice weighted to the blueprint. The right question to ask is whether the tool teaches the specific navigation and per-domain knowledge the 500-220 assumes, or whether it is generic multiple-choice practice with a Meraki label.
How to choose between them
There is no single best answer. If you can get trial gear and have the time to set it up, use it. If your employer runs Meraki, borrow read access to study real deployments. Use the demo dashboard for free to learn the layout. And use a simulator when you need repeatable, exam-shaped practice you can do at your desk without waiting for hardware.
Many candidates end up combining two or three of these. The comparison below summarises the trade-offs so you can pick what fits your situation.
Ways to practise for the 500-220 without your own licensed organisation
| Option | Cost | Can you configure? | Main limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meraki trial gear | Free to qualifying requesters | Yes, fully | Shipping, setup, and a finite trial window |
| Borrowed employer/MSP access | Free if available | Usually read-only | You cannot safely change live networks |
| Meraki demo dashboard | Free | Very limited | Fixed sample data, not blueprint-aligned |
| Simulator | Varies by product | Yes, within the simulation | Reproduces exam paths, not the full live product |
Try CMSS Professor
CMSS Professor uses an original Dashboard-style simulator to rehearse selected navigation and decisions without a licensed organization. It does not reproduce the live product or device behavior. Inspect the free public preview first; current paid products are one-time access with no automatic renewal.
Frequently asked questions
What can I learn without touching Meraki hardware?
Reading, vendor documentation, demo access, and independent simulators can help with terminology, selected navigation paths, and decision practice. They cannot reproduce production hardware, packet behavior, licensing, live telemetry, or every Dashboard workflow.
Is the free demo dashboard enough on its own?
It can be useful for observing layout and navigation, but fixed sample data limits what you can change. No demo or simulator score should be treated as certification or production-readiness evidence.
Which domains need hands-on practice the most?
Design and Monitoring & Troubleshooting are each 30% of the blueprint, and Implementation is 25%. All three benefit from clicking through real or simulated dashboard paths rather than reading alone.
Are brain dumps a shortcut?
No. Reused exam questions are against Cisco's policy and do not teach the dashboard skills the 500-220 relies on. Practise the actual navigation and design decisions instead.