How does a site to site vpn work? aside from the equipment cost (vpn concentrators, etc), is vpn for free? or do i have to look for a site to site VPN service provider?

Yes a site to site vpn works. It works like this: 1. have to have internet bandwidth at each end. 2. best to have static ips at each end for the vpn routers but some will work with only one static at one end with the other being dynamic after the cost of the vpn hardware and internet access the vpn is free. no services I know of provide this. if so they would kinds defeat what a vpn is about. they would be like a man-in-the-middle attack. I use sonicwalls but there are many vpn hardware providers Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Suggest they internet search and they learn a skill for a lifetime.

VPN doesn't require hardware. There are VPN solutions that use hardware to make it easy to use. One could use a dial up VPN if they understood the limits of copper POTS. It depends on how far you with to carry the tunnel security to. See the plenty of how to's. http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.IS... "There is no standard for what constitutes a VPN. VPNs can be implemented using a number of different technologies, each of which have their own strengths and weaknesses" I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

"best to have static ips at each end for the vpn routers but some will work with only one static at one end with the other being dynamic" - with regards to static IP's, does it require some sort of registration to a service provider for me to be able to assign a static IP to the VPN routers? or can i just assign any IP manually to the router?

Your isp provides, as part of their internet service, ip address(s). You can never "just assign" a internet accessable ip address. might want to google vpn and vpn hardware providers do see what is out there and what the lingo is. Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Suggest they internet search and they learn a skill for a lifetime.