My commute limit is 30 minutes one way, door to door. My actual commute right now is under 10 minutes, by car. Where are you that a 2-hour one way commute is reasonable?

if those extra 4 hours means you can work those extra 4 hours for someone online in emergencies you can be a lot more valuable.

Well I am primarily a NetBackup guy, so those emergencies happen a lot more frequently than you'd think :) And yes, I'm fine with working late when needed.

so you're making the most of your available time.

when i'm stuck with a commute i'll cycle, as it replaces gym time.

There is quite a lot of middle ground between working from home and a four hour daily commute. I was at a similar crossroads a few years back, but my total commute was closer to 50 minutes and the 60% bump in pay was well worth it for me. At the end of the day, it's a personal decision that is highly dependent on circumstances and preferences.

What I will say is that there are certainly advantages to being in a shared space with collaborators for a scheduled bracket of time on a regular basis. I haven't yet found a remote-working setup that can properly mimic these advantages. Certainly some make a praiseworthy attempt -- but some of my team's most productive days have been kicked off with a brief hallway conversation that resulted in alignment/commitment that would have taken far longer if attempted remotely.

I agree with that completely. I'm actually a team of one, no one else does my work. So there isn't any random coffee chat, or overhearing someone talking of a problem that i can help with.

There are two big negatives i find from working from home, by the end of Friday I NEED socialising which can be at odds with my partners desire to chill inside after her week 'outside'. Secondly i don't get involved in side projects not directly associated with my actual role, which i do miss.