Two Very Fundamental OpenVPN Questions

[slalomchip]

I have my home router configured to also serve as a OpenVPN server in bridge mode. I've tested it from a public wifi hotspot and everything works great (RDP to desktop, print to network printers, , etc.). I have a couple of questions that I want to make sure I fully understand the answers to before proceeding much further.

1. After connecting from a wifi hotspot to my home router via OpenVPN (bridge mode) and open a web browser on my laptop, am I securely surfing the web because all of my browsing is through my home router via an encrypted OpenVPN session, or am I surfing completely in the clear?

2. Can I safely enable Windows network sharing because I’m securely connected to my home network, or would I be opening up my laptop to everyone on the hotspot’s local network?

Thanks in advance,
slalomchip

[slalomchip]

OK. For Question #1: Here is my config file:

client
dev tap
proto udp
remote [acct name].dyndns.org 1194
resolv-retry infinite
nobind
persist-key
persist-tun
float
ca ca.crt
cert client.crt
key client.key
ns-cert-type server
comp-lzo
verb 5

Should I add "redirect-gateway def1" to the config file?

Also, will I now be able to do such things as online banking from an wifi hotspot without concern of being sniffed? Previously I was online banking via an RDP session to my home desktop over the OpenVPN session.

For Question #2, I guess what you are saying is that I need to "Disable" NetBIOS for the wireless connection to the hotspot and keep the NetBIOS enabled (actually, its on "Default") connection for the TAP connection, correct? Also, can you tell me which Windows Firewall (I'm running Windows 7) setting needs to be changed?

Many thanks for your response,
slalomchip