Expert's answer

You have several to choose from. Keep in mind that with an ADSL router, you probably don't have equal up/down speeds, so things may be a little sluggish at times. Since you are getting your IP address via DHCP, you may need to look at one of the dynamic DNS services so that, as your address changes (and it will), you can always get to your VPN at home.

The first option depends on the type of firewall you have. Some of the higher end ones comes with some type of VPN functionality that will allow you to remotely access your network. This may or may not require a VPN client be used and/or purchased. There are several open-source options to choose from - it all depends on your level of comfort on setting something like this up. If you aren't familiar with terms such as IPSeC, 3DES, etc, you may want to look at options that take care of this for you to keep from pulling your hair out. If your firewall has this type of functionality, it should say something about VPN on the front panel of the firewall or have its own section in the manual.

Another option is to look at Hamachi. This software lets you establish a VPN connection with your remote computers and get to it just about anywhere. Depending on your usage (commercial vs non-commercial), there is either no fee or month to month/yearly). You can also look at commercial offerings such as GoToMypc.com. With this offering, you connect to one computer, then use that to connect to other computers on your home network.