When is the mobile tower in the vicinity of Midge Point Qld 4799 going to be commissioned to enable/improve service to this area as Telstra don't really seem to give a damn about it?

Hi Kenneth,

 I wish I could give you a definitive answer to that question but unfortunately we don't have access to that kind of information – probably only Telstra do, and it's unlikely that they're going to share that with their customer database. Nevertheless, maybe I can help you in some of your wider frustrations around the source of this problem: bad mobile broadband service in your area.

As you clearly already know, mobile broadband is a connection that is made through a mobile phone tower, and as a result, just like with your mobile phone, sometimes the connection can be really good, and – more often – sometimes it can be really bad. The strength and reliability of your mobile broadband connection depends upon a whole range of factors – not just your proximity to the mobile tower and how well serviced it is, but also how many other users there are in your area, the time of day, whether there are any big trees or buildings in the way, and even the weather. You can probably imagine that even if Telstra made your local mobile tower the best in the world and you moved house to sit next door to it, there's a very real chance that you would still struggle with your mobile broadband connection at times.

However, it may be that the Telstra network in your area is just clogged with too many users. I had a look at your address on the map, and can see that there are two other mobile towers within the same sort of distance from your address as the Telstra mobile tower – maybe you could try one of them to see if they could give you better service.

Optus: 1300 137 897
Vodafone: 1300 106 571

There are also a lot of great Optus resellers who may offer mobile broadband in a plan or at a price range that would suit you better: check out mobile broadband plans from Dodo, Virgin, and Amaysim, or click here to look at our best mobile broadband plans.

You do have options when it comes to mobile broadband, as you can see. Having said this, though, there's still a very real chance that no matter who you go with, your location and those other factors I mentioned mean that no matter what, your mobile broadband connection will be frustrating and unreliable.

Have you looked into getting ADSL2+ in your area? I think you would find ADSL2+ a much more satisfactory connection. It's more expensive than mobile broadband, both on a month-to-month basis and in the initial connection fees, but the fixed line connection means that your broadband service will be much faster and more reliable. As you are a long way away from your telephone exchange (about four kilometres), speed won't be amazing, but it will definitely be more serviceable on a daily basis than a mobile broadband connection, and you'll find that there will be very few drop-outs or days when pages simply won't load.

I'd recommend giving the following providers a call. They may not be able to give you ADSL2+ straight up, but ask about their off-net services. (Off-net is when they don't have any of their own equipment at your exchange, and so they rent another provider's – usually Telstra's – instead. It's more expensive, but often still cheaper than BigPond themselves.)

Dodo: 1300 136 793
iPrimus: 1300 137 794
Internode:  1300 106 571

I hope this helps, Kenneth! If you have any further questions, feel free to give us a call on 1300 106 571.

Mikaella.