1. A network analyzer configured to characterize a communication network, comprising: a processor configured to obtain an initial model of the communication network, where the initial model defines a known network topology for which capacities of individual network components are known and a maximal data rate of the network cannot be directly characterized; wherein the processor is further configured to perform at least one substitution, when a maximal data rate of the network cannot be directly characterized from the initial model, that replaces a component of the initial network model with an equivalent or bounding model to produce a simplified network model from which a maximal data rate of the simplified network model can be directly characterized by the network analyzer; wherein the processor is also configured to characterize a maximal data rate for the initial model by characterizing the maximal data rate for the simplified network model; and wherein obtaining an initial model of the communication network comprises obtaining a definition of the nodes of the network, a definition of the structure of the network, and a definition of the connections within the network, wherein a maximal data rate for a network model is a set of maximum possible data rates that a network can deliver; and wherein a maximal data rate of a network model cannot be directly characterized when the maximal data rate for the network model cannot be determined based upon known capacities of individual network components.