US Patent 7956992 Optical cable testing

A method is disclosed for testing optical fiber connection quality of an optical drop fiber between a telecommunications system and a subscriber connection box in a multi-dwelling unit or other subscriber premises before connection to other subscriber equipment. An end of the optical fiber to be tested is placed in a fiber-holding device, which holds the fiber end in alignment with a suitable reflective body. An optical signal is provided from the system direction which is reflected by the reflective body back towards the system. The reflected signal is detected by a suitable instrument, preferably an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR), to confirm acceptable signaling quality of the optical path between the system and the fiber end.