Case Study
Memphis-Area Law Firm: A Simpler Network and Years of Loose Ends Closed
Netcosa replaced a five-user Memphis-area law firm's subscription-locked switches with one gigabit switch. As of April 2026, the firm had had no network issues since the change.
Client: Memphis-Area Law Firm
Netcosa took on the network and domains of a law firm in the Memphis metro area with five users. Joe Pennel, President of Netcosa, found two subscription-gated switches, a failover internet connection, and four domains whose name servers sat with an old web host. The firm’s founder had been trying to sort out those domains for about six years. This case study shows what managed IT services from Netcosa look like when the right call is to simplify.
- A five-user law firm in the Memphis metro area was running two subscription-gated switches and a failover internet connection that Joe says was activating on its own throughout the day
- Netcosa flattened the network to a straightforward gigabit switch and a regular access point, and as of Joe’s April 2026 account the firm had had no network issues since the change
- The firm’s four domains had name servers at an old web host. Joe moved the domains to GoDaddy and updated the spam filter
- The firm’s founder had been trying to sort out the domains for about six years
- The network fix was simpler equipment, not fancier equipment
Challenge: Subscription-Gated Switches, a Failover Line That Kicked In on Its Own, and Four Domains
When Joe met the firm, it had five users and, in his words, “a bunch of issues.” His read was that the firm’s founder had “kind of given up.”
The office network ran on two subscription-locked managed switches. It also had a failover internet connection. Joe says the failover connection was activating on its own throughout the day, and that he never dug into why.
“You have to pay for a subscription or else it’s a brick, you know.”
— Joe Pennel, President, Netcosa
For a five-user office, that meant the network’s basic plumbing depended on a paid subscription staying active.
The domains were a separate knot. The firm had four of them, and the name servers were hosted at an old web host. As Joe recounts it, the firm’s founder said no one understood any of it, and had been trying to sort it out for about six years.
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Response: A Straightforward Switch, a Regular Access Point, and the Domains Moved to GoDaddy
Joe never dug into why the failover connection kept activating. He flattened the network.
“I basically flattened the network and got them, you know, just a straightforward, you know, gigabit switch. Such a small office. It’s only five users, right? So just a straight switch and just a regular old AP. And because they didn’t need anything fancy…”
— Joe Pennel, President, Netcosa
The result was a straightforward gigabit switch and a regular access point, sized to a five-user office.
The domains took a different kind of work. Joe’s account of it:
- Got into GoDaddy. Joe took the separate pieces and put them together.
- Traced the name servers to the old web host. That is where they were being hosted.
- Moved the domains to GoDaddy. The firm had four.
- Updated the spam filter. Joe ran the change after hours, which is his habit: “I like to wait till people aren’t working in case there’s a hiccup.”
- Found a buried rule in the firm’s Microsoft 365 tenant. After the change, mail was reaching the spam filter’s log but not arriving in Microsoft 365. An old inbound rule was set to accept mail from only one source. Joe ran a message trace, found the rule, and made the adjustments.
None of it is exotic.
Outcome: No Network Issues as of April 2026, and the Domain Problem Closed Out
When Joe described the engagement in April 2026, he reported that the firm’s founder had not had any network issues since the network was flattened:
“And he hasn’t had any network issues since we flattened it, and so he’s pumped about that.”
— Joe Pennel, President, Netcosa
That is Joe’s report, not a measured uptime figure.
The domains closed out too. Joe said the work settled things the firm had been trying to resolve for years, and that the firm’s founder was “super, super grateful.”
About 6 years
how long the firm's founder had been trying to sort out the firm's domains, by Joe's account. Four domains, now moved to GoDaddy
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Network users | 5 |
| Domains moved to GoDaddy | 4 |
| Time the founder had been trying to sort out the domains | About 6 years |
For a five-user office, the work that mattered was simplification. The network went from switches that depend on a subscription to a straightforward gigabit switch and a regular access point. The domains moved off an old web host and onto GoDaddy. Netcosa’s value of Straight Talk means honest assessments, and recommending more only when it has true value to the customer. In Joe’s assessment, five users did not need anything fancy.
Wondering whether your office network is bigger than it needs to be? Talk to Netcosa about right-sizing your office IT.
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