I have a modem and router connected and now a new icon of an "internet gateway" has appeared in control panel?

Question

what is it? i connected the modem and router 2 years back and right now i was having probs connecting and when i restarted PC a new icon came up in internet connections in control panel ..why? and whats an internet gateway?

Answer 1

it shows up because UPNP is enables on the router, upnp  allow device networks to open and close port as it needs if it work as a server.

upnp is needed in many cases sometimes for internet gaming, and with some types of servers, or for example if you have ip camera and want to access it from outside.

if you don't have any of these, you can disable upnp

Answer 2

Internet gateway is another term for "router" - they are used interchangably even though there's some differences between the two.

As for why it just showed up now, I have no idea.