Patent ID: 8064348

Claim:
A method of gathering a traffic profile for an endpoint device operably coupled to a network, the method comprising: sending a set of numerically sequenced packets substantially simultaneously to a plurality of endpoint devices on the network including the endpoint device, wherein the plurality of endpoint devices are time synchronized with the numerically sequenced packets, wherein the plurality of endpoint devices include internal network devices coupled to a residential gateway via a two-way measurement path, one of the plurality of endpoint devices being a set top box; receiving the numerically sequenced packets at the endpoint device; electronically storing packet data for the numerically sequenced packets at the endpoint device, wherein the packet data is stored for a user configurable time period; collecting the packet data within the user configurable time period, the collecting performed by a collection server collecting packet data from the residential gateway; and using the collected packet data to determine one or more of: (i) packet loss information, and (ii) packet sequence information for the endpoint device.