ok well this is gonna be the first time I will try to network my comp without using a router. I'm currently learning FreeBSD and would like to use it as my firewall. We have 4 computers in our house and it's all connected to router. What I would like to learn/know is the stuff I need to network all 4 computers without using a router.
I want all 3 computers to depend on my freebsd box. How do I accomplish that? I'm not asking to spoon feed me with setup. What I wanna know is what hardwares do I need in order to accomplish that? Do I need a 4 port
PCI network card on my freebsd box? could I use 2 routers at the same time? What hardware do I need to network? Thanks

I just made everything seem confusing but hopefully someone will understand what i'm talking about.