Now for the funny bit..


As it turns out... after rethinking things just now...
I have Inbound and matching Outbound Services configured for everything... web, ssh, the lot..
Meaning, if I have Apache serving web on port 80, I have a port forward set up, so that all port 80 traffic goes to the right ip... all good so far...
BUT
Being thorough, I also added an outbound service allowing all for port 80, thinking this allowed the traffic through and facilitated everything running smoothly... Wrong... the Outbound services aren't required....
As it turns out, it was these outbound services that were causing all my surfing to only work through the proxy... simply removing all the rules has resulted in everything working 500% faster, with the proxy no longer required..
If this matches your current browsing limitations and you have port forwarding set up, stop laughing and go check your config.. otherwise.. laugh harder at the fact that I have been putting up with these circumstances for over 2 years and through 2 households.
![Embarassed [EMBARASSED]](./images/smilies/monkeyembarrassed.gif)