Regarding the poor reception at the house- dad went to do a Skype interview, is it that the phone service is poor or the cell phone service is poor? Or both?
To make a skype call the internet reception would have to be strong as its VOIP not an actual phone call. Would be interesting to know if Benaroon Dr falls into a black spot on mobile reception.
Here is the mobile coverage map from vodafone. If Grandma didn't have internet access then it shows that the mobile reception would probably not have been strong enough to support a skype call.
http://www.vodafone.com.au/aboutvodafone/network/checker
That is just the vodafone network coverage but obviously telstra and optus supply those areas and they may have different strength ratings for service