In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a customer premises equipment (CPE) apparatus includes a first communications unit and a processing unit. The first communications unit is adapted to send and receive messages over an upstream network. The processing unit is adapted to control the sending and receiving of messages through the first communications unit. The processing unit is adapted to perform each of a plurality of first sequence tests until the first sequence tests are exhausted, and each of a plurality of second sequence tests until one of a second sequence test passes or the second sequence tests are exhausted. The processing unit is adapted to receive test results from the performed test and to configure the CPE based upon the performed test results.