A distributed antenna system, the system comprising: at least one master unit configured to receive a base station downlink radio frequency signal and to transmit a base station uplink radio frequency signal; at least one remote antenna unit that is communicatively coupled via a switch to the at least one master unit by a primary cable (114-P) and a secondary cable (114-S) both coupled to the switch, the remote antenna unit comprising a power amplifier and configured to radiate a remote downlink radio frequency signal from at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit, the remote antenna unit further configured to receive a remote uplink radio frequency signal from at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; and the distributed antenna system is characterized by further comprising: a compensating link check module configured to output a control signal to the switch, wherein the switch is configured to select between the primary cable (114-P) and the secondary cable (114-S) in response to the control signal; wherein the compensating link check module is configured to control the switch to momentarily select the secondary cable (114-S) to perform a link check of the secondary cable (114-S), wherein during the link check of the secondary cable (114-S) the remote unit is configured to measure at least one quality metric of a downlink signal received from the at least one master unit via the secondary cable (114-S); and wherein the compensating link check module is configured to adjust an attenuation of the downlink signal received on the secondary cable (114-S) upon initiation of the link check of the secondary cable (114-S), by loading a set of calibration settings for the secondary cable (114-S) into a downlink compensation attenuator. at least one master unit configured to receive a base station downlink radio frequency signal and to transmit a base station uplink radio frequency signal; at least one remote antenna unit that is communicatively coupled via a switch to the at least one master unit by a primary cable (114-P) and a secondary cable (114-S) both coupled to the switch, the remote antenna unit comprising a power amplifier and configured to radiate a remote downlink radio frequency signal from at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit, the remote antenna unit further configured to receive a remote uplink radio frequency signal from at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; and the distributed antenna system is characterized by further comprising: a compensating link check module configured to output a control signal to the switch, wherein the switch is configured to select between the primary cable (114-P) and the secondary cable (114-S) in response to the control signal; wherein the compensating link check module is configured to control the switch to momentarily select the secondary cable (114-S) to perform a link check of the secondary cable (114-S), wherein during the link check of the secondary cable (114-S) the remote unit is configured to measure at least one quality metric of a downlink signal received from the at least one master unit via the secondary cable (114-S); and wherein the compensating link check module is configured to adjust an attenuation of the downlink signal received on the secondary cable (114-S) upon initiation of the link check of the secondary cable (114-S), by loading a set of calibration settings for the secondary cable (114-S) into a downlink compensation attenuator. a compensating link check module configured to output a control signal to the switch, wherein the switch is configured to select between the primary cable (114-P) and the secondary cable (114-S) in response to the control signal; wherein the compensating link check module is configured to control the switch to momentarily select the secondary cable (114-S) to perform a link check of the secondary cable (114-S), wherein during the link check of the secondary cable (114-S) the remote unit is configured to measure at least one quality metric of a downlink signal received from the at least one master unit via the secondary cable (114-S); and wherein the compensating link check module is configured to adjust an attenuation of the downlink signal received on the secondary cable (114-S) upon initiation of the link check of the secondary cable (114-S), by loading a set of calibration settings for the secondary cable (114-S) into a downlink compensation attenuator.