[dsr_]

Very much agreed.

If a network-attached device is always in one place and it has an ethernet port, it has a cable.

If it's always in one place and it doesn't have an ethernet port, there's a cable to the wireless point in that room or the next.

5-port gigabit switches are about $20 each. A 12-port gigabit switch anchors the whole thing. None of them take configuration.

This is harder but not impossible for people who live in apartments; white cable run along the edge of the ceiling or along the foot of the wall is a good bet.