The command used on the remote laptop looks like this...
Code:
shh -D4567 myddnsname.ddns.net -p 6789
In this case, the -D option (with the port number immediately following) tells SSH that any data sent to the specified TCP port on the laptop should be sent to the Media-Center-PC. Once the packet of data arrives at the Media-Center-PC, it will be sent out onto the LAN using the Media-Center-PC's IP address as the source address.
The -p option is used to tell SSH to use the non-standard port I opened on my gateway router. If I had opted to forward the default port (TCP 22) through my gateway router this option would not be needed.
So this allows the laptop to use the Media-Center-PC to act as it's proxy... I can connect to any IP address on the home LAN, in fact, I can even surf the web and appear to be using the IP connection of the Media-Center-PC.