Method and apparatus for determining the failure probability of a data network

In a method for determining the failure probability of a data network which has at least one transmitter, a transmission medium, components which attenuate and/or amplify the power, and at least one receiver, the data network is subdivided into individual point-to-point connecting paths, and a failure probability is determined separately for each point-to-point connecting path. The total failure probability of the data network is determined as the sum of the individual probabilities of the individual point-to-point connecting paths, minus the probability that two or more point-to-point connecting paths will fail simultaneously.