You may want to review how I dealt with the connection of
ethernet cables in the basement of 174 School Street.

I screwed wall plates to both ends of the Cat-5 cables,
requiring only a screw driver and sharp-nosed pliers.
The plates at the distal ends of the cables I mounted in standard
metal wall boxes. The plates at the proximal ends I mounted
in an improvised array on the basement wall. 
I then connected the router-switch to the plates with commercially
manufactured patch cables.
This arrangement has the virtue of requiring a switch with limited
capacity. Not all ethernet cables will be required simultaneously
and can be plugged selectively into the switch as needed.