whats the difference between personal mode and gateway connections

[db042190]

Hi, i fear we are proliferating connections in the service because we are uninformed.   What is the difference (even in the way they were created)  between connections marked as personal mode and gateway realted?   Is either better than the other?

[db042190]

thanks audrey,  its been a while since i stood up a gateway on a personal pc.  do you recall the name of the service that actually runs?  I dont believe i have it running on my work pc but who knows.  and i dread changing personal mode to gateway as that part of pbi has always been difficult for me to navigate.  we have (maybe 2) a gateway but i cant picture how to change these over.

[audreygerred]

Hi! Unfortunately, I am not sure, but here is an article about the personal mode gateway. Use a personal gateway in Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

[audreygerred]

A personal mode gateway is on your computer and your computer will have to be on with the gateway running for the refresh in service to work. The PowerBI Gateway is an enterprise that is confugured on a VM (so it is likely always available and running). If you are doing this for work, I would suggest using the PowerBI Gateway that is configured on a VM (likely done by your Infra team).