One exemplary aspect is to detect the presence of one or more types of faults affecting DSL communications. Upon their detection, a message can be generated that recommends corrective action. Furthermore, another exemplary aspect is to estimate the rate impact of the detected fault in some cases. One exemplary aspect of certain embodiments is to detect the presence of one or more faults that affect DSL communications, and upon their detection, generating, for example, a message that recommends corrective action. In this context, a fault can be one or more metallic faults, malfunctioning modems, or something else that affects the measured attenuation but is not normally attributable to normal DSL transmission lines.