WHEN Rex Nancarrow decided to connect to the National Broadband Network four months ago, he saw an opportunity to have regular Skype calls with his daughters living interstate and overseas.

But the Kennington resident could not have imagined the problems that would follow.

Not only did the NBN not work, it also took out his landline phone.

“I have been connected to the NBN for four months, and in this time I have had 13 drop outs lasting for an average period of four to five days,” Mr Nancarrow said.

“The phone was working perfectly until the NBN came.

“When it goes out, I’ve got no way of contacting anyone.”

Mr Nancarrow said he has missed four medical appointments because there was no way to contact him without his landline connection.

His phone now runs off a cable from his modem – but the modem rarely receives a signal.

The NBN was connected to his Lowndes Street home in February via a cable to the powerline outside, which then runs underground. He does not know where the node is, but guesses it must be a long way away.

Other residents on his block have also complained about NBN problems.

Mr Nancarrow has lived in his home for 65 years and says he has never had phone problems before.

“This is the worst service I’ve ever seen,” he said.

“They say they can fix it over the phone, but how can you fix it over the phone if the phone doesn’t even work?”

After four months, he has been able to get his complaint registered.

He was the latest in an ever-growing list of Bendigo residents contacting the Bendigo Advertiser with NBN problems.

In April, the Daw couple living on Wireless Street in Kangaroo Flat complained that their NBN “connection” was not working, and it had also taken out their landline.

Two months later and the problem is the same as ever – despite other residents on their street having their connections restored.

Kerri Daw said it was meant to be fixed last week, but once again it stopped working straight away.

“We might have to be connected to a node 1200 metres away, but they say the speeds won’t be fast,” she said.

“The technician came, had one look in the pit in front of our house and shook his head.

“They say we can’t even get connected to ADSL internet anymore either.”