We have noise on the line...a crackling. BT say no fault on the line and are quoting us £115 callout and £99 per hour!!!

Broadband is still working perfectly fine, albeit with a slight speed dropoff and we can still make calls but not without this irritating crackling!!!

Any suggestions please.....

have you tried to call out using the test socket
so you know its bt side of the line which is free if you got the some problem
if not you know its something to do with your wires

Old wiring here....though there is a master socket, its not wired directly, but to a junction box off which there are two more wires going to other sockets in the cottage, so the test plug doesnt go directly to BT wiring as it should...

BT say no fault though....

so its set up like mine is.
who installed the master socket if it was either bt or openreach then its fine and still do it in the test socket as you dont own the master socket
but i could be wrong there but i had the some problem and i got bt to sort it out it turned out to be water in the hub outside

You dont say who your Service Provider is, but presume its BT, if you have a noise problem then the line testing OK is quite common, it doesnt mean the line isnt faulty, but what it does mean is that if you proceed to get an engineer call out and by the time the engineer comes out the noise has gone, or the problem was on whats called end users own wiring then you would be charged for the abortive call out (£115 or whatever it is) the £99 is only if you want the engineer to repair/replace your faulty wiring/sockets etc......if your line isnt wired in the 'standard' way through a NTE5 type master socket, with all other sockets being wired from the removable consumer panel then you shouldnt be charged if the problem is wiring/sockets but the engineer would disconnect them,not repair or renew them (unless you wanted to pay the time related charge to do so (thats where the £99 comes in) but if the problem was a telephone instrument, adsl filter or anything else that can easily be dis-connected you would be charged, noise problems can be a concern though because if the noise isnt there when the engineer calls and books the fault off as 'right when tested' then a charge is usually raised....If you look in your phone book, about page 6 or 7 there is a guide on how to 'prove' a fault either internal (your problem) or external (bt's problem)

Googled a local engineer....he is coming tomorrow afternoon, so we will see what happens...not taking the risk with getting BT out unless this local guy says its definitely outside the house and I'd rather pay his fixed charge than some silly hourly rate and callout charge.

All sorted by independent engineer (http://www.landlineman.com). Fault was external...HA! Internal wiring also put as it should be wired and written confirmation of fault and even estimated location. So now waiting for BT to come out on Friday.

Just curious, how much did the independant guy charge you?