Fixed IP address adsl/dsl connections with VPN question

[Jonny69]

I'm going to be connecting up a VPN for the first time later in the week but I've got an IP address query. The person I'm doing this for has a fixed IP address from his ISP but I'm a little confused how his server relates to this.

At home my IP address is assigned by my ISP as 195.xxx.xxx.xxx or similar but that address is assigned to my router, not the computers behind it. Say I had a fixed IP address, surely that is assigned to a router, not the server. How do I know what IP address to use on the client when I setup the VPN? Will it not try to connect to the router rather than the server which is behind it?

Or have I missed something here with fixed IP addresses? Is there no router?

 

[Jonny69]

Not 100% sure I understand that T, so does VPN client look straight through the router on the open ports?

Edit: or is this where port forwarding steps in, ie open port 1723 for the VPN and get it to forward to the server IP address behind it?