Question : Problem: VPN Setup Help

Hi,

I have a DSL connection with a D-Link 524 wireless router that I use to run a Windows network in my house. I recently discovered the Remote Desktop feauture on Windows XP, and I've really started to like it. I'm thinking it would be great to be able to use it from work (especially since that would mean I would not have to lug my laptop with me all the time), and I've been thinking of setting up a VPN. I generally know what I'm doing with computers or can figure it out, but I'm not sure where to start on this one. Could you please help me out with the following:

1) Is a VPN what I need? I'm pretty certain the answer is yes, but hey...

2) Can I do this with my router (D-Link 524) without buying additional hardware and software? If not, what else do I need?

3) I have a dynamic IP, and I'd really rather not write it down each morning before going to work. How can I deal with this? I was thinking of using this: http://www.no-ip.com/

4) How do I go about modifying my current setup/settings in order to allow VPN access to my network? The more detailed you can be concerning my setup (i.e. my router, windows xp), the better, but I think I mainly just need someone to explain how this works in general. An eye for security here is appreciated. While all my home computers are password protected and I use MAC filtering, etc. I want it to be as hard as possible for just anyone to connect to my VPN.

5) Once it is set up, can I test it from my own network, or do I need to go to an outside computer?

Thanks in advance for helping to walk me through this. If it ends up taking a lot of input I'll raise the pts to 500 to make it worth everyone's while.

Answer : Problem: VPN Setup Help

So now that your DSL modem is in bridge mode, you can reach the public IP address of your new router's outside interface from the Internet.  Great!

As far as I know, you won't be able to connect from an inside host.  You have to be on the Internet to test the connection.  You might use a dial-up service, that's what I do for testing.

As far as configuring the VPN, L2TP with IPSec is more secure but also more difficult to setup with the built-in Microsoft client.  Try PPTP first and see if you can make that work.  Once you do, try with L2TP.  

Unfortunately, I can't walk you through setting this up as I've never done it with this specific router model.  I only have experience with Cisco devices.