Working Remotely from Vermont: Internet, Coworking, Flights, and Amtrak

Yes, you can work remotely from northern Vermont, and plenty of people do. Fiber now reaches most addresses in the region, and you can fly nonstop from Burlington to New York, Washington, and Philadelphia. The catch is that internet is decided address by address, not town by town, and winter adds slack to every trip. Verify the connection at the exact house before you make an offer, and plan your travel days with a cushion.

My setup

I worked a full-time remote job from northern Lamoille County for a London-based company, on normal Eastern hours, 8 to 5. Fiber was just arriving in my area when I bought, so I set up Starlink before I moved in, to make sure I had a working connection on day one. It was the bridge I needed. About a year later, I switched to Fidium fiber. It’s fast enough for video calls all day, even with two people working from home.

The house runs on solar with a battery backup. I don’t lose power often, but I plan for the day I do. And my phone? Verizon gave me an SOS signal at the house. I switched to AT&T and now get a couple of bars. That one detail tells you more about rural Vermont than any coverage map.

This guide covers what I’d want to know if I were doing it all again: how to check internet before you buy, what backups are worth it, where to work when the house gets quiet, and how to get to New York, Boston, DC, or Philly when you need to.

Internet in northern Vermont: what’s actually available

Fiber now reaches most homes in Lamoille County and many across northern Vermont, but not every address, so check the specific house before you make an offer.

“Everyone is always connected now, with everyone in the palm of your hand. Starting my company here was a no-brainer,” says Daniel, who moved to northern Vermont from Boston and founded Payment Economics Institute here.

That’s true now in a way it wasn’t five years ago. Vermont has spent the last several years building fiber into places the big providers skipped, mostly through communications union districts (CUDs): groups of towns that band together to get fiber built. As of February 2026, the state says plans are in place to serve more than 99% of Vermont addresses with at least 100/20 Mbps service, most of it fiber.

In Lamoille County, the Lamoille FiberNet CUD partnered with Fidium. By its own count, about 95% of serviceable addresses across its 10 towns, more than 14,200 homes and businesses, now have access to fiber (as of late 2024). In the Burlington area, Burlington Telecom offers fiber and Xfinity offers cable.

That “plans are in place” and “about 95%” is the important part. The last few percent are the houses at the end of long driveways and private roads, and some of them are beautiful houses on great land. That’s why internet gets checked address by address.

Broadband by town

Lamoille FiberNet built fiber to every town in the county with Fidium, so all eight towns below have it, though not every address does.

Sources: Fidium, Lamoille FiberNet Gig Towns (October 2024), for providers and advertised speeds; VTDigger, December 16, 2025, on the completed build; FCC National Broadband Map (June 30, 2026 data release) to check a specific address. Availability varies by address; check the exact address before you make an offer.

Starlink as a bridge. If the house you love doesn’t have fiber yet, Starlink can carry you until it does. That’s exactly how I did it. Two caveats: Starlink sells service by coverage area, so some addresses show a waitlist, and the dish needs a clear view of the northern sky, which tall trees can block.

How to verify internet before you make an offer

This is the most important section in this guide. A listing that says “high-speed internet” or a town with fiber tells you nothing about the house itself. Here’s what I’d check, in order:

1. Check the state map. The Vermont Department of Public Service keeps an interactive broadband map that shows the fastest reported speed at each address.
2. Check the FCC map too. The FCC National Broadband Map lists providers by address. Vermont officials have said it overstates coverage here, so treat it as a starting point, not proof.
3. Call the provider with the exact E911 address. Ask three questions: can you serve this address today, is the line already run to the house, and if not, what does an install cost and how long does it take?
4. Ask the seller for a recent internet bill. It shows the provider, the plan, and that service actually works there.
5. Look for the line. Is there a fiber or cable drop on the pole by the road, and does it reach the house? On a long driveway or private road, running a line can cost real money and take time.
6. Test your phone on site. Stand in the rooms you’d work from and in the driveway. Note which carrier works.
7. Have a plan B. If there’s no wired option, check Starlink availability for that address before you commit.

When I represent a buyer, internet is on my checklist for every rural property, right next to the well, septic, and road access. If you’re looking at houses and want help checking a specific address, get in touch.

Backups and resilience

Fiber is reliable, but the things around it aren’t always. Storms bring down trees and power lines, and when the power goes out, so does your router. If your job depends on being online, plan for three things:

• Power. A generator or a battery system keeps the router, laptop, and heat running. I have solar with a battery backup. I don’t lose power often, but I plan for the worst when I do. Even a small battery pack for the router and modem buys you time to finish a call.
• A second connection. A phone hotspot on a carrier that works at your house is the cheapest backup. Some people keep Starlink as a backup to fiber; most don’t need to.
• A place to go. Know where you’d work for a day if the house is dark: a library, a coworking space, or a café in the next town over (more on that below).

Cell coverage

Cell service in northern Vermont is decided by hills and valleys, not by town lines. A coverage map can show solid service across a town while a house in a hollow gets nothing.

At my house, Verizon showed an SOS signal. I switched to AT&T and get a couple of bars. That’s not a recommendation for either carrier: a mile down the road, it could be the other way around. The only test that counts is your own phone, at the property, in the rooms you’d actually use. If your carrier doesn’t work there, ask the seller and the neighbors which one does, and check whether your phone can make calls over Wi-Fi once you have internet.

Coworking and third places

Here’s the honest version: outside the Burlington area, coworking options are thin. If you work remotely here, plan on working mostly from home and getting out of the house when you need a change of scene. The good news is that the places that do exist are worth knowing about.

Daniel goes to Day Haus in Stowe every now and then, when he wants to get out of the house and doesn’t have many meetings that day. Day Haus describes itself as a social coworking club, with memberships rather than drop-in desks.

Beyond coworking, the public library in most towns has Wi-Fi and a quiet table, and many cafés don’t mind a laptop on a weekday morning. Ask before you camp out for a full day of calls.

Hybrid commuting: flying out of Burlington (BTV)

If your job brings you to an office once a month or once a quarter, Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport (BTV) is your main door out. It’s small, easy, and close: the kind of airport where you walk from the garage to the gate without a long trek.

Daniel’s trips are mostly to New York. He drives to BTV, parks at the airport, and flies to LaGuardia. Depending on the flight, he has left home as early as 3 AM and as late as 1 PM. He usually makes it an overnight. “I don’t like to rush things.”

What surprises most people from Boston: there’s no nonstop from Burlington to Boston. For Boston, most people drive; it’s about three and a half hours from Burlington.

Can you do a day trip? To New York or DC, sometimes, but check that day’s first departure and last flight home before you count on it. A day trip is a long day, and a delayed return in winter can turn it into an overnight anyway. Many people, Daniel included, build in a night.

Parking. BTV has a covered garage attached to the terminal, $14 a day after the first four hours, card only at the exits. The airport warns that the garage can fill up at busy times, so check its live parking status before you leave.

Winter. Most of the year, the drive to BTV is the easy part. From December through March, give yourself extra time for the roads, and for a 6 AM flight, that means leaving in the dark on roads that may not be plowed yet.

Amtrak from Vermont

Vermont has two Amtrak trains, one a day in each direction on each line. They’re slow compared with flying, but you can work the whole way, and Amtrak has Wi-Fi on board.

• Ethan Allen Express (west side). Burlington’s Union Station to New York Penn Station, by way of Vergennes, Middlebury, Rutland, and Albany. The southbound train leaves Burlington mid-morning and gets to New York in the late afternoon, about seven hours. The northbound train gets back to Burlington late in the evening.
• Vermonter (east side). St. Albans to Washington, DC, stopping at Essex Junction, Waterbury-Stowe, Montpelier-Berlin, White River Junction, and on through Springfield, New York, and Philadelphia. It leaves St. Albans in the morning and reaches DC late that night. From northern Lamoille County, the closest stations are Waterbury-Stowe, Montpelier-Berlin, and Essex Junction.

The two lines don’t connect inside Vermont, so pick the station that fits where you live. Vermont also offers discounted fares for trips within the state; check Amtrak for current prices and times.

Who the train suits: people who can work on the way and don’t need to be anywhere before mid-afternoon. It’s not a commute; it’s a workday with a view.

Other ways in and out

• Cape Air from Lebanon, NH (LEB). Small nine-seat planes from Lebanon to Boston Logan and to White Plains, with ground transportation from White Plains into midtown Manhattan. It’s a useful backup, especially for Boston, but Lebanon is a long drive from most of northern Vermont.
• Driving to Boston. The most common way to Boston from here, about three and a half hours from Burlington. Boston Logan and Manchester, NH open up nonstops BTV doesn’t offer.
• Montreal-Trudeau (YUL). Montreal’s airport is about 75 miles from Burlington and has far more international nonstops than BTV. For Franklin County and the northern towns, it’s often the easiest way to Europe. Bring your passport and allow time for the border.

Plan your commute

Pick your town and where you need to go. The planner shows your realistic options, the drive to the airport or station, and whether a day trip is doable.

Which towns fit which kind of remote worker

If you work fully remote, the deciding question is internet at the address, and after that, how far you want to be from groceries, trails, and the mountain. Fully remote workers can live almost anywhere in this region once the connection checks out.

If you travel regularly, drive time to BTV matters more. Towns along I-89 and VT-15 toward Essex and Burlington put you closer to the airport, while the Lamoille Valley trades a longer drive for more space. The Stowe town page has drive times, home prices, and property tax rates.

A note on taxes

Moving here while keeping an out-of-state job raises tax questions about which state taxes your wages and how to handle the year you move. This guide isn’t tax advice.

One thing that’s gone

If you’ve read that Vermont pays remote workers to move here, that program is over. The state’s worker relocation grant stopped taking applications in 2023 when its funding wasn’t renewed, and there’s no replacement program as of this writing.

The bottom line

Remote work from northern Vermont works. The connection is better than its reputation, BTV gets you to New York, DC, and Philadelphia nonstop, and the train is a real option if you can work on the way. Do the homework on the specific house, build slack into winter travel, and you’ll have the setup most people move here for.

If you’re starting to look, I’m happy to help you check a property’s internet and commute before you fall for it. Get in touch.