Router/ Proxy/ router monitoring, spying

[spiedon]

I have a Question and any help would be much appreciated. It might really basic!, but I have read some info on the net but still cannot figure it out. Total nubie and dont have any experience with gateways, routers, or networking, except what I recently read.

1. I share a DSL connection with a neighbour for residential internet service. I'm on a LAN and connect through a router to  reach the internet.

2. We dont't pay for extra IP, and everything is assigned by the DHCP server it seems.

3. On the Internet connection status on my computer it shows an Internet Gateway, (Im guessing thats the router)............it shows,     internet------Internet Gateway------my computer

4. I read some where that a router and software on a gateway can be used to monitor my web viewing and sites I visit. Is this true? Is this the same setup offices on a LAN?

Questions______________________________________________
Can I?, or How can I block or hide my Internet activity from the Gateway/router and software?

Is there any way of telling if the person in control of the router is actually using software to monitor my Internet activities?

Would a Proxy server be of any help in this case?

What else can I do to block my Internet activity from my neighbour in control of the router, since all internet traffic passes through the router/ and or their computer?

Is this how computers in an office setting blocked from visiting various websites?

Any help would be much appreciated.


Thanks for your help

[Terry]

If you use a computer as your gateway, then you can install softwares on it to monitor the activity of users.  Don't worry because a small Router can't do that.