A personal VPN without remote accessing...

[DragonPoet]

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this. So, I have a Dell Dimension 8300 and a Gateway MFATXPNT ESX 500S P04 just sitting around. Lately I have been thinking about trying to make one of them into what I can only describe as a VPN. I don't really know what I am talking about so I am going to tell you my result, or the end goal, of what I want to have happen.

I am going to want my network to look like this:

Internet - "Machine" - Wireless Router - My computer, Wii, Etc.

or

Internet - Wireless Router - "Machine" - My computer, Wii, Etc.

So basically I want the "Machine" to: act as a firewall, mask my IP and Subnet Address, and encrypt what pages I visit and what I download. I don't have to be able to access it from a remote point but the option is always nice.

THIS IS JUST FOR A PROJECT. I am not downloading or uploading anything illegal. I just want another project and I figured this would be good to do until I can go to school to become an IT Administrator.

But I know several people will read this and not comment, but every little help I can get would be great. Please, anyone with ANY information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[anta]

not sure what you are hoping to acheive with your "configuration" or whether all of your wants are achievable but IMVHO the first description of your network would probably be best, otherwise you'll be "sharing" the wireless router (WLAN) with this proxy type device.
Although thinking about it most firewall/wireless routers do most of the tasks you are looking to acheive. Ie blocking IP address, NAT, Firewall, Port forwarding I have seen some broadband routers have the ability to isolate traffic further by providing a DMZ port, usually configurable through the setup pages buried within the router settings. similar outcomes can be achieved using port forwarding....

other technologies and techniques that you may want to look at are proxies, reverse proxies and firewalls.

 

[DragonPoet]

Thanks for you help. And I am not trying to achieve nothing more than just hands-on learning. See, I want to go to school to be an IT Administrator, but it's kinda hard to come up with money with a wife and 2 kids depending on my income! Lol. Thanks again.