1. An apparatus comprising: an optical line terminal (OLT) in communication with a plurality of optical network terminals (ONTs) via an optical distribution network (ODN); and a passive optical network (PON) topology estimator coupled to the OLT or at least one of the ONTs, wherein the PON topology estimator is configured to model a PON topology, wherein the model comprises a plurality of network parameters, a plurality of component parameters, and at least one relationship between the network parameters and the component parameters, and wherein the PON topology represents the physical connectivity of optical fiber cables, couplers, splitters, distributors, or combinations thereof in the optical distribution network.