Smart Home, Smart Family: Meet the Fletchers

The Fletchers might seem like your typical, midwestern family. But once you get to know them, you’ll discover that their hard work, tech savvy, and dedication to the community sets them apart.

Watch their full interview at the end of this post.

Choosing a Smithville Fiber Home

Growing up on the south side of Bloomington, Meghan Fletcher has deep roots in this town. She attended Bloomington North and South High School and Indiana University. Will Fletcher moved around a lot growing up in an Air Force family, but after finishing his six-year service in the Navy in 2008, he’s called Bloomington home ever since.

The Fletchers moved into their house nine years ago, right before their son was born. They’ve enjoyed raising their children there, including Preston, who is now 8, and their 6-year-old daughter, Raegan.

When they were looking for the right home, Smithville Fast Fiber Internet was a determining factor.

“Honestly, when I found out that Smithville was offered in this neighborhood, it was one of the reasons, other than buying a house, that we wanted to come in here because I wanted to have Smithville,” Will said. “It allows me to do everything I want to all at the same time.”

Working from Home with Fiber

Meghan and Will both work from home at times, so a reliable internet connection is crucial. Will is a cybersecurity specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He recently transitioned to a remote role and works from home four days a week. With his fast internet connection, he can use many devices in the home simultaneously without disruption.

“My office is only a mile from here, but my connection speed is 15 times better at home than in the office, so I can do more … I don’t deal with any latency issues. Even during bad weather, I still have a steady, stable connection,” said Will.

After shifting from a career in health care, Meghan works as a talent connection manager at Ivy Tech’s Ivy+ Career Link office, connecting students, employers and community partners. Additionally, she is an adjunct teacher for the Monroe County Community Schools Corporation and Ivy Tech health science.

“The internet is very important to me for my teaching because I have a Learn Anywhere classroom, which means I can either be on campus or be here at home,” said Meghan.

On top of that, Meghan volunteers in the community throughout the year, coaching youth sports teams, working with Ivy Tech’s Youth Leadership Academy, mentoring at a high school health care career symposium, and assisting with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. She needs a reliable connection at home to coordinate her efforts.

“Volunteering with Preston and Raegan’s teams and other youth in the community, it’s just great to be able to communicate with parents,” said Meghan. “I use Google Drive a lot for schedules, snack sign-ups, things like that. I can’t imagine in the evening when I’m trying to coordinate that, what I would do without Smithville internet.”

Parenting with Reliable, Fast Internet

The Fletchers rely on Smithville Fiber Internet to manage days when Will has an important video conference, Meghan is teaching, and the kids are home. These situations are challenging for working parents, but fast internet can help.

“We can offer the kids electronics while I’m trying to teach or [Will’s] trying to work from home. It’s been a benefit,” Meghan said. And Will agrees, “Having a stable internet connection that allows me to have multiple devices attached to it is very beneficial.”

They also use the internet for learning opportunities for their children, such as accessing educational content online and connecting with teachers during e-learning days.

Creating Peace of Mind with a Smart Home

After moving into their Smithville Fiber home, Will wanted to gain awareness, security and peace of mind for himself and his family. With his vast knowledge of IT and cybersecurity, he set up a smart home system.

With about 110 different devices on their network at once, the list of smart devices in their home is impressive, including a smart thermostat, window sensors, Ring doorbell, myQ garage door control, Arlo security cameras, and various other Wi-Fi devices.

The smart home features allow Will and Meghan to monitor their home and take action through apps on their phones. For example, they can close their garage door if it was left open and receive a notification when a package is delivered.

“I have Arlo cameras around the house for security,” said Will. “But also, if I’m busy doing something, I can check on my kids. If they’re out in the backyard playing, I can see what’s going on, I can talk to them, they can talk back.”

As a techie, Will appreciates that with Smithville, you can choose to use your own router and devices if you want.

And for those who’d rather have Smithville handle it, we provide the equipment and install everything you need for Wi-Fi and can even set up outdoor Wi-Fi and a smart home system similar to the Fletchers’.

Bright Communities, Bright Futures

The Fletchers make a positive impact in the community. There is a lot to juggle when raising children, but Will and Meghan extend their dedication and service beyond their family: from Will’s prior service in the Navy and current work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Meghan’s dedication to teaching and volunteering to help kids and adults reach their goals. Reliable internet makes it possible for the Fletchers to do more, achieve more and give back.

Fiber connections light up opportunities for Hoosiers. And in turn, Hoosiers make our communities shine bright. Watch for another featured customer next month in our Bright Communities, Bright Futures series.