Are there problems with mobile phone reception in Hovea?

Yes there is a problem with mobile phone reception in Hovea. This is mainly attributed to the terrain, and the historic infrastructure installed which is difficult to get upgraded due to the realtive small amount of users to support this investment by the Telco's.
4G reception can be patchy at best and then you'll get changed over to 3G. But - this will only occur if you have Telstra. I do not think that the other carriers have leased enough nodes in the exchange neer the Parkerville Hotel.
If you're using a carrier that isn't Telstra, your mobile phone may not work at all in some areas.