Rural and remote Australians are desperate for politicians to take their internet woes seriously, as new data shows broad support in both city and country areas for spending on the National Broadband Network.

While both major parties are taking a national broadband plan to the election, rural voters remain sceptical that those plans will deliver the internet speeds and capacity they need.

The ABC's Vote Compass reveals 69 per cent of voters support an NBN that delivers faster speeds, even if it costs the Government more.

That sentiment was strongest among Labor and Greens voters but 52 per cent of Coalition voters also agreed it would be worth spending more taxpayer money to achieve faster internet.

The Vote Compass findings come as no surprise for Dr Jacki Schirmer, who has just released the University of Canberra's annual regional wellbeing survey.

Of 13,000 regional Australians surveyed, 48 per cent reported that their internet was "very poor".

Only 37 per cent rated their internet as "OK" or "good".

"A lot of those are on the 'OK' end, they're not saying it's good, they're saying it's just enough for their needs," Dr Schirmer said.

"We can see the significance of it because we also asked people how their community's going overall.

"If people report having good access to internet, they're typically also reporting much better economic conditions in their community."

Not only speed, but capacity the problem

While speed is an issue, capacity is also a problem for many remote Australians who need large amounts of data for video-heavy schooling and health services.

Australians who live in capital cities can buy unlimited data for as little as $60 per month, but in regional areas some people have reported paying more than $300 per month to access 60 gigabytes.

Alana Moller's family has just been connected to NBN Co's new Sky Muster satellite, which aims to deliver more capacity and better speeds to remote Australians.

Alana Moller helping her daughter Addison with a school lesson at the family's property Start of Hope Station in western Queensland. ( Lydia Burton )

With three daughters to educate through School of the Air at home on Star of Hope Station in central Queensland, Mrs Moller said her primary concern was getting enough data to give her girls the best start possible.

"I would just like to see internet be available to the level that people require, so you're not scrimping and saving your 20 gigabytes because they need it for education so they never get to do anything else with it," she said.

The Moller family said their new Sky Muster internet was definitely faster but had proven disappointingly unstable so far.

Mykenzie Moller, who is in Year Six, said the internet once dropped out 14 times in one hour while she tried to complete her lessons.

The Mollers said everyone they knew has had similar experiences with the new technology.

"Yes it is quicker and they've got more gigabytes, so straight away that's helpful. But that's only helpful if it's working," Mrs Moller said.

Unreliable internet 'holds agriculture back'

The Vote Compass results suggest both city and country people strongly support a faster NBN, even if it costs more.

But Australian farmers and graziers reported the worst internet access of any regional Australians in the University of Canberra's recent wellbeing survey.

"They're also the ones who're constantly being told, 'invest in this machinery, invest in this monitoring technology systems' — all of which require connectivity," Dr Schirmer said.

"I've had farmers ringing me up saying, 'I've bought this piece of equipment for $500,000 and to get the best out of it I need decent internet and I don't have that, so I've wasted a bunch of money'."

The University of Canberra survey found regional NSW was the worst for internet access.

Woolgrower Oliver Cay from south-eastern NSW said agricultural productivity was being held back by dodgy connections and he wanted that to be resolved no matter who won the election.

Wool producer Oliver Cay, from Bungarby in south east New South Wales. ( Josh Becker )

"I think too many people go into the election thinking about what's best for them, whereas I think the internet is the classic example of where governments need to invest in infrastructure that benefits the whole population," he said.

Research and extension organisations increasingly include video in their online offering, Mr Cay said, and that makes it difficult for people who do not have the speed or the data to download the latest information.

"Everything I do in my farm or daily life revolves around the internet and most of the efficiency comes from getting it right the first time," Mr Cay said.

"The way to pick up an easy 1 or 2 per cent efficiency, which is what we need to gain every year in farming, is to target your biggest things. And the internet, accessing information, and the managers' knowledge is by far the biggest thing that goes into a farm to make it efficient."