Ian Slight often has to walk outdoors to get mobile phone reception.
"Sometimes we can get calls in a tiny corner of the living room or under the back door, otherwise we have to go outside," the 61-year-old said.
Mr Slight lives at the north end of Dunbar Street in Stockton, barely three kilometres from the Newcastle central business district, but struggles every day with unreliable mobile coverage.
He said an elderly neighbour had fallen recently and could not call 000 because mobile phones in the area sometimes could not find nearby cell towers from any service provider.
Newcastle federal MP Sharon Claydon has taken up the cause of Mr Slight and others struggling with mobile phone reception in Stockton.
She told Parliament last week that poor phone and internet connectivity were "really taking their toll".
Mr Slight said he hoped to start a business working from home when he retired, but he would need better phone coverage to contemplate the move.
At one point, he and his wife had been trying to complete a critical overseas bank transfer, but the phone call kept dropping out.
"It affects your mental health," he said.
"Optus or Telstra, it doesn't seem to make much difference."
Stockton Community Group co-president Lindy Nisbett said the suburb's internet access appeared to be reasonable, but mobile coverage in north Stockton was an ongoing concern.
She said improving mobile connections in the area would be increasingly important to cater for the thousands of residents expected to move into new developments between Stockton and Fern Bay.
Ms Claydon told Parliament that she had been "inundated" after asking the Stockton community to share their experiences.
"They speak about fears of constant dropouts and not having reliable tools for study for their children," she said.
"Almost 5000 people live in Stockton, which is just a few minutes by ferry from the city of Newcastle.
"Newcastle is Australia's sixth-largest city, which makes these poor telecommunications experiences for Stockton residents especially shocking."
Ms Claydon said she had met with Telstra and Optus representatives to discuss the residents' concerns.
"I'm pleased that Telstra has agreed to investigate its telecommunications network in the suburb, and I've asked the same of Optus because we need to identify these problems and get them fixed," she said.
She has also lodged an expression of interest under the Peri-Urban Mobile Program for a grant aimed at improving coverage.
Telstra is scheduled to shut down Australia's 3G mobile phone network at the end of the month.
