It is time to write a guide for Windows users on how to tunnel your traffic without the need to install any software on your local computer.

Say that you are stuck behind a firewall that filters your traffic or you have services that requires you to use them from a specific IP. When at your regular computer it’s easy because you have all the software you need on that computer but what if you are att work or a friends house and “need to check this”.

What we need for this guide is a software called Putty. No installation is need, download and run it.Before we start with the guide, here is a short introduction to tunneling and what happens when you are using it.

What is Tunneling? The Over Simplified Definition

When your browser (or other client) requests a webpage (or anything off the Internet) it sends a request from your computer through a series of routers, switches, firewalls, and servers owned and monitored by other people, companies, and ISPs until it reaches its destination, then follows the same (or similar) path back to your machine with the information you asked for.

Tunneling bypasses some of the rules that these companies or ISPs may be enforcing on you by creating a direct, encrypted, connection to your tunnel server. This means that web pages that are blocked can be seen, passwords that are sent can’t be looked at and services that are locked by IP are accessible.

For a much better definition, please read about tunneling on Wikipedia

Install PuTTY

I like Putty because there is no actual installation needed, download and save it in a folder of your choice and it is ready to use. There are many other SSH clients and tools that are designed specifically for SSH tunneling and SOCKS proxying but I’ll leave those for you to explore on your own.

Download PuTTY here (if you don’t have already) and save it to your Desktop.

Configuring PuTTY

1. Run the client and enter the hostname and port
   
2. Save this session by entering a title under Saved Sessions and press Save.
3. On the left side, go to Connection->SSH->Tunnels.
4. In Source Port enter 8080 (this can be configured to be whatever you want, just remember it).
5. Select the Dynamic radio button under Destination.
   
6. Press Add, you should then see D8080 in the box above.
7. Go back to Session on the left side and then press Save to save the changes.
8. Click Open to connect to your server and open the tunnel.

SOCKS Proxy

To utilize the tunnel to its full benefit, you need to set up a SOCKS proxy in your browser. In this guide we will describe how to edit the Internet Explorer settings.

Open Internet Options, then click on the tab Connections.
Click the button Lan Options and then check the box that says Use a proxy server for your LAN.

If you don’t check it, the Advancedbutton won’t be enabled.
When clicking on the Advanved button you should then see this

Enter the values as on the image and click OK to save the settings and go back. Click OK all the way until you closed Internet Explorer Options.

As long as the putty window is Open, your Internet Explorer will use your vps as a proxy.