A method, computer readable storage medium and apparatus for measuring data rates is disclosed. A method that incorporates the teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, submitting a signal over a cable from a Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) element, determining a fault in the cable from a reflection of the signal, determining a length of the cable from the reflection of the signal, determining a location of a bridged tap relative to customer premise equipment (CPE) and determining effective downstream bit rates for the cable according to the fault, the length of the cable and the location of the bridged tap relative to the CPE. Additional steps and embodiments are disclosed.