I'm not sure what you're aiming at here. Could someone explain in plain English what's happening here and why this might be useful? Thanks.
This is useful when the local network is untrusted, or to bypass things like url blocklists or IP filtering.
The arguments are as follows:
ssh -C2qTnN -D 8080 your-user@example.com
C2: request compression, at level 2 (1 is least)
q: quite mode
T: Disable pseudo-tty allocation. I don't know why you would want this. I suspect since you are only using it for a proxy you don't really need a tty, but seems a little unnecessary to me.
n: redirect stdin from /dev/null. Again, not sure why this is needed, but I suspect it is related to the "T" option.
N: Do not execute a remote command. You are only using port forwarding so no commands are needed.
-D 8080: the local port to forward
your-user@example.com: Username/host of remote machine.
This is a pretty optimized example. The simplest working version is just ssh -D 8080 your-user@example.com. Personally, I'd use the -C2 argument as well, but leave the rest out.
Similarly, -n is described as necessary for backgrounding the process, if you want to. I can't find a reason to use -T, unless you intend to send binary data over the pipe.
A typical use for this is when you are connected to a foreign network like a hotel. If you don't route your http traffic over ssh, there is a risk of having your traffic sniffed and/or recorded.
- watch Hulu, when you're not in the US
- use Spotify when you are in the US (and you use a UK box for example)
- bypass your university firewall
- in general secure your connection in case you are using an open network