[geeks] VPN suggestions

[Bill Bradford]

Okay, I need tips here.

I have a consulting client that needs a "VPN" setup.

Basically, his people need to be able to connect to the
office network somehow, and through that, access files that
sit on various office PCs and a central fileserver through
Windows filesharing networking (it sucks, but they've been
using it for years now, and arent keen to major changes).

All remote users have broadband connections, so speed isnt
an issue.  However, there's ONE catch:

They dont have any kind of a central "router" or "gateway" - 
they've just got a SDSL connection from their ISP and their
systems are basically sitting ducks on the 'Net, using only
password authentication for the file sharing.

I can probably switch them to some kind of NAT setup (private
network sitting behind a single box that has a "real" IP), but
how much of a wrench will this throw into the "Remote access to
network for filesharing" machine?

Any suggestions appreciated.  I'm trying to do this as cheap
as possible (I've thought of using a PPro or older PII box 
with OpenBSD and Samba..). I quoted them a nice hardware solution 
from Network Associates for around $2500, and got laughed at...

Bill

-- 
Bill Bradford
mrbill at mrbill.net
Austin, TX