Routing through a gateway running linux...confusion ensuses

DNS? Well I'm not running a DNS on the gateway (linux box) or the router. I'm only trying to contact one from my laptop through the gateway and then through the router and then out to the internet to the gateway. As I stated previously about pinging www.google.com and it doesn't work.

I setup the nameserver to what all the other hosts on my network use for thier name server: 64.78.83.229

I can even ping the name server and I get a reply.... 64.78.83.229

DNS operates on port 53...

--How should I interpret when you say, I setup the nameserver to what all the other hosts on my network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

--I think you are making it complicated than it is. . . . . . . . . . .Forget the VPN's for now, just have the basic set up and build on that foundation. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. . . .

I'm only trying to contact one from my laptop through the gateway and then through the router and then out to the internet to the gateway. As I stated previously about pinging www.google.com and it doesn't work.

--Laptop -> Gateway -> Router -> Internet ->Gateway ->Ping Google. Is that what you are trying to accomplish?

Check this link. May be it will help you.
www.firewall.cx/nat-concept.php

Now I've managed to get the laptop to connect to ip's outside of my lan, but the gateway still doesn't know how to connect to ip's outside of my lan

try erasing this:

[code:1]0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U eth0[/code:1]from your gateway's routing table

Also the laptop is not capabile of sending dns requests for some reason [...] There is an iptables firewall on the gateway I don't know if that has something to do with it or not. (and I don't really know how to configure it)

I very doubt it is iptables (if you left the default rules of your distro), but check at your loaded rules with iptables --list

you can try dig utility at your laptop and send a dns query on your dns to see if that works. i.e. "dig google.com A @your_dns_IP".