ssh -D (socks5 mode) doesn&#x27;t require root, and can forward both udp and tcp traffic, doing what it appears that the client requires. socks5 is just a protocol that tells the server to connect to X on port Y using protocol Z, or to bind to X on port Y using protocol Z. Root is only required if you want to bind to privileged ports. A bonus with this is that it only requires a SSH server in default configuration.<p>SOCKS5 most common usage is to just use it as a proxy for HTTP traffic or similar, but it can make any connection. The trick lies in the &quot;kludgy tunnelling operations&quot; and the &quot;router&quot; (firewall rules).It&#x27;s this magic that makes it better than the socks5 proxy solution, as it really does appear like a VPN. I wonder how much effort it would be to get rid of some of the &quot;magic&quot;, though.<p>But I have to agree, that <i>ANYTHING</i> is better than a real VPN in complexity.