I agree with the dynamic DNS suggestion as well. FTP would be really nice, IF your cable provider lets you do that. My cable ISP blocks FTP servers on the customer side.
What I do is run SSH on my machine. Cygwin has a port of SSH that works very well. Couple that with WinSCP3 (
http://winscp.sourceforge.net/eng/), a awesome SCP client, and you'll have yourself an encrypted means of transferring files. An added plus is that it can compress on the fly as well.
To install Cygwin:
1. Go to
http://sources.redhat.com/cygwin/ and run the "Install or update now!" link.
2. Go through the steps, but when you get to the "Select Packages" dialog, click the + on "Net", and scroll down to find "openssh". Click on "Skip" until it changes to a version number (the one that will be installed).
3. Continue on through the installation.
4. Double-click the Cygwin icon on your desktop. It should start a shell window.
5. Run the following comand: ssh-host-config
6. Answer all of its questions. It will install a service for you.
7. If needed, forward port 22 on your router to port 22 on your machine.
Download WinSCP3 and use it as a client. Use your regular username and password from your machine. If you don't have a password set, set one.
I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it may give you an alternative if FTP isn't viable for you (I actually prefer SSH).