I am a hobbyist looking to learn more networking. I have a Linksys router [WRT-54G ver2] that is capable of VPN passthrough. Apparently, it can only do port forwarding. Looking for some guidance on how I can connect to a desktop from outside of my home. Linksys says I am on my own on the configuration. I am moving to MS Vista Ultimate... is there anyting in the OS that would facilitate VPN? Is a VPN client needed? My next move is to establish a VLAN on my desktop and looking for reading material and/or guidance. Much thanks for any assistance.

for VLAN you need a VLAN capable switch

to remotely access your PC, you need a remote access service running on it. windows native RDP can be used, but using LogMeIn.com is much easier.

if you want to dial in to your PC from outside the LAN, you can set it up as a VPN server (not too sure about Vista, but XP should be capable of that), using the native service. otherwise go for openVPN

Greetings
I am aware of and use these other options but my goal is learning how to administer a firewall. Still looking for how one uses the forwarded ports in the router to finish configuring VPN

vista is not the OS to learn about the real firewalls on

I'd start here: http://iptablesrocks.org
and look at Cisco PIX and CheckPoint NG also