Intermittent crackling on line.

[G3n1e]

  This piece of advice had me flummoxed as mine is a cordless phone:

Troubleshoot home phone issues
Locate the Telephone Network Interface. It's usually located on the back or side of the house.
Use a screwdriver to open the box. ...
Unplug the short telephone cord and plug in your corded phone.
See if the problem still exists. ...
Unplug the corded phone and replace the short telephone cord.

 The other piece of advice I didn't understand was:

 Text PHONE plus your landline number to...I didn't realize I could send a text via my

cordless BT phone...

[imjolly]

do you have digital voice or still old PSTN and cordless base station connected to white master socket?  if the latter try dial 17070 option 2  should be silent and any noise is a problem so report phone fault to 03301234151

in the instructions you posted where it says connect your phone in your case it would be the corded base unit

[ChrisB]

Try the line test facility. Dial 17070 and take option 2 to check for quiet line.

[G3n1e]

 phonewire attaches to left ''panel'' Hi, yes I've tried the 17070 number scores of times; it was helping a bit til my phones went dead. Also these are pics of the mess of wires on my outside wall. The phonewire is connected to the ''panel'' with the plastic sheath. No connection point visible.

[chrisjp]

Goodness - what a mess of wires.
Is this a single family dwelling or a block of flats? If the former I don't understand what all the cables and boxes are for.
If it's a block of flats, see if your neighbouring flats are having the same issues as you.
The pastic sheating looks to be a temporary job and openreach need to return to fit something more permanent

[WSH]

It's hardly surprising that you are confused.  You appear to be quoting the instructions for an American phone system from AT & T.

https://www.att.com/support/article/local-long-distance/KM1123854/

[G3n1e]

   Ah, I think you might be right...I'll blame Google (and my failing eyesight)! However the problem still persists;  I've inaudible phone clarity; no internet despite the modem/icon saying I'm 'online' and I can't afford the likely BT engineer costs. I've considered hiring a local technician for £36 to have a look, any advice? Thanks.

[Manatarms84]

If you are a BT residential customer and have a fault you do not pay for any engineer visit under any circumstances.  It used to be the case that you would pay a visit charge if the fault was found to be within your house but BT got rid of this a while back.  As someone mentioned above you can text PHONE to 61998 from your mobile to receive a call back or call BT and have them run some tests and see what's what.

There are some good steps to follow if you like on this link:
Test your phone line and check your telephone equipment | BT Help

[licquorice]

@G3n1e Nobody but Openreach will be able to fix the problem in the network. To verify the problem is outside your property, test for a noisy line at the test socket which is behind the removable faceplate of the master socket which I suspect the instructions you found were referring to.

@Manatarms84 Don't know where you get your information from, but there will be a charge if the fault is found within the customer's property.

[Manatarms84]

BT have not charged for that in a good while.