Problem with phone line - help identifying piece of archaic equipment

[#1]

hi, recently my broadband has been painfully slow, think it's a problem with where the line comes into the house through this ancient thing. Any ideas what it is? Not sure whether it's easily replaced but I really don't want to have to pay BT £129 engineer callout unless it absolutely has to be done. Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

[#2]

This is simply a junction box and property of BT/OR so you'll need to pay them to have it replaced! Unless ...

[#3]

thanks, unless...what?

[#4]

Unless nothing! Don't expect me to tell you that you could in theory replace it yourself by relocating the socket to replace it, but that's not recommended. Having said that if you have a genuine fault and it was this junction that was to blame then BT would replace it for you as part of the fix, so that would be the road I'd go down.

[#5]

that does make sense, however BT online chat (half hour wait...) has just told me I have to contact Plusnet to get them to investigate it. 
Currently on hold for 20 minutes to Plusnet to try and sort this out, hence resorting to forums.

[#6]

@AlexW - Yes that would be the case if your phone line is with Plusnet. When you get through and the issue of an engineer is raised you'll be informed of a charge (£50) if no fault is found. Even if this is the case when the engineer comes round to your property ask him to replace the junction while he's there, it's nothing to them and makes sense as well as it reduces the possibility of issues in the future,  and it's a lot cheaper than the £129 you've already been quoted.

Got to be money well spent as that looks really dodgy.

[#7]

@AlexW

I hope you guys don't mind me saying, if Alex is not happy to do the job himself. You can by all mean get a profession to do the the job as @Anonymous has suggest.

Though, if the cost of £130 is what bothering you, you can get an "Ex BT" engineer to do it for you for a faction of the price.

[#8]

@Gin - You say what you want, it's a free forum after all and all contributions are welcome, just like yours. The thing about getting someone else to do the job is OK provided they are willing to take proper legal responsibility for the work they do and any detrimental consequences arising from it.

[#9]

@Anonymous

That's cool, I just thought I should be polite, that's all.

Yes, they as in "Ex BT" Engineer, as you have quoted 'take proper legal responsibility for the work they do and any detrimental consequences arising from it'. Their workmanship is top notch and have longer experiences then these new kids on block that BT have on their team now.

[#10]

@AlexW - Did you get through and what was the outcome, and please don't tell me you're still in the queue!

[#11]

Hia

Its an Old BT  Block Terminal (52A), used for connecting the external dropwire to the internal wiring, looks like its been left loose after the new window been fitted, its Openreach property, but as its in your house and you feel a bit nosy have a look inside, you should see the two cables connected, and if they seem nice and tight and have no corrosion, it should be ok and you could stick it back to the wall and tidy the wiring up, if there are any extensions connected inside (star wired) then that could be a problem and you may need to book a engineer appointment, it would be down to the engineer if a charge is raised, he may consider it as uplift, or he could say the window fitting as caused the problem.

Cheers