The present invention relates generally to a customer premises based method for detecting the presence of a micro-filter on a VDSL connection. According to certain aspects, the method uses SELT test signals that are transmitted from the customer premises modem and whose associated echo signals are received and analyzed by the customer premises modem. According to further aspects, specific characteristics of several different SELT signals are utilized to robustly and effectively determine the presence or absence of the micro-filter/splitter.