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Working remotely in Yosemite Valley - anyone have experience with this??
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Hey all - my partner and I will be living in Yosemite Valley for the 2022 season, roughly Apr-Nov. I work remotely 30ish hours/week and require reliable wifi (including lots of video conferencing) and cell service (I have Verizon). Anyone have experience working remotely from the valley long-term? My initial investigation did not yield encouraging results but I'm hoping for some beta on how to make it work. :) |
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There's no reliable public wifi in the valley. I've heard about the wifi at the library but you'd need a local to give you the password and I've never tried it. I normally hotspot my phone and it's workable. I have ATT and it's good near the Indian Village in Yosemite Village. Verizon has good reception elsewhere in the valley but I can't speak to it. There's the staff wifi in the hotels but I've never been able to grab the password. In El Portal there's wifi at the community Center but I wouldn't call it strong or reliable. Similarly to poaching wifi in the valley, there's always staff that live in El Portal that might let you poach. Otherwise, Mariposa and Oakhurst have reliable wifi sources that work during business hours but of course they are around 45-60 minutes away from valley Once the pass opens, Lee Vining has reliable wifi at their cafes if your afternoon plans involve Tuolumne climbing. |
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I can't give you any good news but I can give you some background. I haven't heard an update from a knowledgeable local in a few years, but the situation was that the main Internet line into the valley was/is undersized for the usage they have and it hasn't been updated in years. So they probably allocate bandwidth based on priority to different users, and cell service users are low priority. You may get a better connection if you can get a wifi connection, but even some of the wifi, like Yosemite Lodge's can be slow. I've heard of some locals/employees that have better connections but don't know who that is, you'd have to ask around and maybe offer something in return, because it's probably not technically allowed to share. For cell service the tower is up behind the Visitor Center in Yosemite Village. I heard it was damaged by rockfall maybe 10 years ago and rebuilt not as tall. So signals aren't as strong as they used to be. I used to be able to get good service with AT&T at the base of El Cap but now it's hit or miss. But of course cell service is line of sight. Once you get elevation and are in the right direction the signal can be quite good. For example I've had really a really strong connection (signal strength, not necessarily Internet speed) from the top of Half Dome. Your best bet may be working from/near the library close to the tower, so you have the most bars possible, because it seems low signal strength will compound issue with getting the limited bandwidth available. Not sure how you're spending the season unless you have a job, in that case they are probably your best bet to secure a connection. Otherwise you may have to travel as mentioned. El Portal, Mariposa. Maybe Yosemite West? |
Glowering wrote: The two Airbnb's that I've had access to had dodgy wifi at best. No clue if they're using cabled internet that is throttled or Satellite wifi which is always pretty crappy and susceptible to weather and cloud cover. |
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Apparently the people that have Starlink in YoWest are really happy with it so far. Not sure how well it would work in the valley and if you have a house where you could install it though. |
Mikey Schaefer wrote: Wait for Starlink roaming…. https://www.rvmobileinternet.com/is-spacex-experimenting-with-starlink-roaming/ edit - I know this is not a workable solution for now, but reading this article makes me think how crazy the outdoors are going to be when people who can afford this start “working from home”. |
Terry E wrote:  |
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Starlink is the shit. My folks have it, I'm waiting for mine so I really can get out there and still be connected (they say by summer for me and it will have been about a 1.5 year wait) - 2 pennies |
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This is literally John Muir’s nightmare |
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The Valley gets really hot in July - August (can get into the 100s). Are really going to only be there? Other spots like Tuolumne or Courtright up higher have zero service. Worth thinking about. |
Stin Man wrote: I think John Muir’s nightmare would be the Native American museum in Yosemite Village |
Stin Man wrote: Muir also couldn't get good Internet? Muir also worked in Yosemite, he just had a notebook tied to his rope belt that he used to write articles and books, instead of a smartphone and cellular connection. His "literal" nightmare is much more likely to be about regretting his initial work there shepherding 2,000 sheep he later referred to as "hoofed locust" tearing up the grass and devouring wildflowers. |
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Carly, where are you going to be staying? It sounds like your partner has a job in the park? For those with NPS jobs and housing, wifi is available to be installed into NPS housing and is very reliable. Wifi is also available in most El Portal employee housing. I don't know anything about getting wifi installed in Aramark housing. A number of these jobs might come with places to use wifi, but I'm not sure if that would be extended to partners. The Valley community center near Curry Village also has wifi, though it's not always the fastest. In the last few years when permits have been required for the summer, the reduction in people in the park made the cell coverage significantly better. I used a hotspot there also and was often (though not always) able to stream videos and work online reliably. It is worse on weekends, as the number of people in the park is directly linked to how good the cell/data coverage is. |
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Side note, what do you do for work? My partner and I have been thinking about trying to find remote jobs that would allow us to travel for climbing, but it’s proven difficult. Any info you’d be willing to give would be greatly appreciated! |
Jack Bushway wrote: Remote work is awesome - I hope you have success finding something!! I'm self-employed (I work as a virtual sports performance trainer for extreme/adventure athletes). I used to provide in-person coaching before COVID, but these days many people prefer the convenience/ease of online. I know I certainly do! Generally, the people I meet who also work remotely are self-employed to some capacity. Like either they will do contract-style work (e.g., develop web/tech stuff for different companies), or they are writers/artists who are commissioned to create stuff. That said, I also know people who used to work in-person in human resources/admin-type roles but are now entirely remote. Seasonal work also lends itself well to nomadic life, though of course you are stuck in one spot during some portion of the year. But if that spot happens to be a climbing area, you probably won't be feeling too stuck! Good luck!! :) |
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When I've had to take work zooms from the valley and the main valley cell tower is gummed up, I've gone to the scenic pullout above the highest tunnel on 120 (the one with the bronze relief map of Yosemite). As far as I can tell this spot connects to a tower near Yosemite West, which usually has 4 bars and doesn't get overloaded. I'm also on Verizon. It's a little annoying to get there/back but is the most reliable zoom-speed service I've found. |
Carly Poremba wrote: Thanks so much for the beta! Your job sounds so cool! |
