Patent ID: 7453989

Claim:
A method of monitoring and testing a transmission link between a service provider's point-of-presence (POP) and a subscriber terminating equipment (STE), comprising: connecting a network interface device (NID) at a subscriber premise and between a subscriber loop and a premise loop, the NID having a subscriber side and a network side, the subscriber loop being connected to the network side of the NID and the premise loop being connected to the subscriber side of the NID; monitoring transmission data passing through the NID and between the subscriber loop and the premise loop; generating operational data indicative of the operational status of the transmission link, the transmission link comprising the premise loop and the subscriber loop; continuously storing in a first memory within the NID, transmission data and operational data; and upon a detection of a service failure on the transmission link, storing within a second memory within the NID, the transmission and operational data stored in the first memory.