"We cannot run a business with these internet speeds," Hunter Office Supplies owner David Griffin said.

"It's like we're in a third world country."

Telstra said it had no plans to upgrade its local infrastructure.

Business owners believe Telstra will not upgrade its ageing copper wire infrastructure in the area because NBN Co is about to roll out its new technology.

But the Lakes Mail understands the NBN rollout won't solve all of the telecommunications problems in the town.

That's because the superior fibre optic cables offered in the NBN would not be connected to individual premises.

The fibre optic cables would instead be connected to a node, at the end of the street.

Businesses will still be connected to the node by the existing slower and less reliable copper wires.

Mr Griffin said it took "about five minutes" simply to open Google on his work PCs.

"Recently, it took 30 minutes to enter one invoice that should take two minutes.

"We can't get work done and it is severely affecting our sales."

Mr Griffin said it was wrong for Telstra to continue to add customers to an already congested network.

Daniel White, a building estimater with Ford Homes, said download speeds available in his office were "slower than dial-up".

"It frustrates the hell out of us," Mr White said.

He agreed that Telstra "should be doing something" because of the uncertainty about the timeline for the NBN rollout.

Mobile phone reception was also "absolutely shocking", he said.

At Corlett's Home Hardware, staff sometimes take work home to access better internet service.

"Jenny Corlett goes home to do her books because it's too slow to do it here," the store's retail purchasing manager Lynda Maggs said.

"The lag time is just ridiculous.

"The NBN should speed things up, but Telstra needs to take some responsibility."

For Powersport Central owner Chris Flaherty, there are times when the fluctuating internet speeds bottom out.

"It's usually worse from 4pm to 5pm when all of the kids are getting home from school," Mr Flaherty said.

Internet infrastructure in the area must be improved to cope with the new businesses coming into the growing area, he said.

A SPOKESMAN for Telstra said the problem was caused by congestion of the network servicing the Morisset Gateway Estate area.

‘‘We are happy to work with our customers in the area to look at the best ways to address any congestion issues,’’ the spokesman said.

‘‘The growing popularity of high-speed and -volume data applications has seen rapid and continuing growth of ADSL demand on our network, which can have an impact on internet speeds.’’

Factors such as a customer’s equipment and software, network configuration, and distance from the exchange could also affect speeds.

‘‘At this stage there are no plans to upgrade the infrastructure that supports services at Morisset Gateway Estate.’’

Telstra would continue to monitor ADSL performance in the area and revise its plans accordingly, he said.

INFORMATION technology (IT) consultant Derek Kerr, of Morisset Park, said network congestion and damage caused to Telstra’s copper wiring by the installation of the NBN were two big problems.

‘‘Four years ago there was one PC in the house. Today, in the modern home, there’s maybe 12 or 13 connected devices,’’ Mr Kerr said.

‘‘That’s put a strain on the bandwidth allocations that Telstra provides, and Telstra has not kept up and provided a proper service for us.’’

Mr Kerr said the installation by NBN Co of its cabling had damaged the ageing copper wires servicing local homes and businesses.

‘‘When they open up the pits they are damaging the connections which in some instances are corroding away because they have been in the ground for 30 years,’’ he said.

As for the NBN rollout, Mr Kerr said residents in new local residential estates, such as Aquilo at Bonnells Bay, would enjoy ‘‘fantastic’’ fibre-to-the-premises connections.

‘‘But for the rest of us, under the new NBN we will still be using the existing old copper cables [from the premises to the node],’’ he said.

‘‘There will be some benefit and we should be able to achieve download speeds of 50 megabits per second, but we will still get faulty lines when it rains.’’

Mr Kerr said affected locals who complained to Telstra about shortcomings in its infrastructure and service were receiving refunds on their bills.