VPN vs. Proxy Server vs. ?? for travels

[Brian96]

In an effort to browse more securely when I travel, I'm trying to set up either VPN or a proxy server on one of my PCs at home. First off, which one would be better for my purpose: VPN or proxy? I don't necessarily need access to the home network, nor do I plan to do any remote desktop-type stuff. Is there a performance difference?

Also, I've been playing around with setting up a proxy server. The host machine is running Linux Mint Debian Edition (it's what I was already running, didn't select it for this purpose) and the laptop is running Ubuntu. I use ssh to sync files across my home LAN using rsync, but the proxy thing hasn't worked so far. Anybody know their way around this kind of setup who could give a newbie some help?

[Brian96]

That's hilarious. I'm looking into this topic again, so I googled "vpn vs proxy server for travel." This post was the first hit on google. I'm chasing my virtual tail!

[splicer]

Best bet for your answer: http://ask.slashdot.org/

[Brian96]

Thanks for the reply.

And just to close the loop, here is what I did:

1. Last year when I was looking at this, I set up a Linux box at home as a proxy and tunneled in using OpenSSH.
2. This year, I had wiped out that machine and had to start over. I started off playing around with OpenVPN in Windows, but got fed up.
3. Finally, I ended up following the advice in this blog: http://lifehacker.com/#!5763170/how-to-secure-and-encrypt-your-web-browsing-on-public-networks-with-hamachi-and-privoxy

If anybody sees any glaring holes in that blog, I'd appreciate the insight.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

That's hilarious. I'm looking into this topic again, so I googled "vpn vs proxy server for travel." This post was the first hit on google. I'm chasing my virtual tail!

It's truly spooky per what's out there when you google. My BB&B posts come up from the PawLitic Forum way too much. I imagine the brown shirts are tracking them as well.