Methods, media, and systems are provided for characterizing the synchronization behavior of a slave clock. A sequence of sync packets, usable to synchronize with a grandmaster clock, is transmitted from the grandmaster clock to a slave clock. The sequence of sync packets is modified by dropping one or more sync packets from the sequence, providing a pattern of dropped sync packets. A synchronization output of the slave clock is monitored and, based on the synchronization output, a determination is made as to whether the slave clock is synchronized while the sequence of sync packets is modified. A characterization of the synchronization behavior of the slave clock is stored with respect to the pattern of dropped sync packets. The process may be repeated for various patterns of dropped sync packets.