Hmm, many eons ago, I wanted to be a CCNA CCNP.
So, I did the following:
1. Found a institute with a good amount of equipment.
2. Negotiated for 2 Hrs daily use of equipment for a month.
3. Asked them to ensure a CCIE (at least written) be present during my use of the equipment.
4. Studied CCNA & for BCMSN & BSCI etc before starting the lab practice. Used the official books, and the net for reference on specific topics. By & large the books were enough.
Ended using the lab daily 6-9 (2 racks full of switches and routers) and 4-6 PC's depending on the scenario. The CCIE's became good friends, and would often give scenarios for which the setup had to be done and tested with the equipment.
After all this pain, I ended passing each exam with a 1000/1000.
Cheers
P.S. As on date my certifications have expired, and have negligible value in my current line. So you can guess what era I am talking about. Boson's netsim was not developed enough to be any level of practice. Today you have multiple options.