diff --git a/components/player/hooks/useHLSPreloader.ts b/components/player/hooks/useHLSPreloader.ts
index c698e18..3493652 100644
--- a/components/player/hooks/useHLSPreloader.ts
+++ b/components/player/hooks/useHLSPreloader.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,13 @@ export function useHLSPreloader({ src, currentTime }: UseHLSPreloaderProps) {
                 const totalDuration = segments[segments.length - 1]?.startTime + segments[segments.length - 1]?.duration || 0;
                 console.log(`[Preloader] Parsed ${segments.length} segments. Total duration: ${totalDuration.toFixed(2)}s`);
             } catch (error) {
-                console.error('[Preloader] Error fetching manifest:', error);
+                // Use warn for expected network errors, error for unexpected issues
+                const errorMessage = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
+                if (errorMessage.includes('503') || errorMessage.includes('Network unavailable')) {
+                    console.warn('[Preloader] Network unavailable, skipping preload:', errorMessage);
+                } else {
+                    console.error('[Preloader] Error fetching manifest:', error);
+                }
             }
         };
 
diff --git a/lib/utils/hlsManifestParser.ts b/lib/utils/hlsManifestParser.ts
index c0dfe39..d0c77fb 100644
--- a/lib/utils/hlsManifestParser.ts
+++ b/lib/utils/hlsManifestParser.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ export interface Segment {
 export async function parseHLSManifest(src: string): Promise<Segment[]> {
     const response = await fetch(src);
     if (!response.ok) {
-        throw new Error(`Failed to fetch manifest: ${response.status}`);
+        const errorMsg = response.status === 503
+            ? `Network unavailable (Service Worker offline): ${src}`
+            : `Failed to fetch manifest (${response.status}): ${src}`;
+        throw new Error(errorMsg);
     }
     const manifestText = await response.text();
 
diff --git a/public/sw.js b/public/sw.js
index 6f94d24..43a0c43 100644
--- a/public/sw.js
+++ b/public/sw.js
@@ -35,18 +35,25 @@ self.addEventListener('fetch', (event) => {
                     const fetchPromise = fetch(event.request).then((networkResponse) => {
                         // Check if network response is valid
                         if (!networkResponse || networkResponse.status !== 200) {
+                            // Return the response as-is so client can see the error status
+                            if (networkResponse) return networkResponse;
+                            // If no response at all, throw to trigger catch block
                             throw new Error('Network response was not ok');
                         }
                         cache.put(event.request, networkResponse.clone());
                         return networkResponse;
                     }).catch((err) => {
+                        console.error('[SW] Fetch failed for manifest:', err);
                         // If network fails, return cached response if available
                         if (cachedResponse) {
                             return cachedResponse;
                         }
-                        // If no cache and network fails, throw error so browser handles it
-                        // This allows the client (VideoPlayer) to catch the error and retry with proxy
-                        throw err;
+                        // If no cache, return a proper error Response instead of throwing
+                        // This prevents "Load failed" and lets the client handle it
+                        return new Response('Network error', {
+                            status: 503,
+                            statusText: 'Service Worker: Network Unavailable'
+                        });
                     });
 
                     // Return cache immediately if available, otherwise wait for network
@@ -78,8 +85,12 @@ self.addEventListener('fetch', (event) => {
                         return response;
                     }).catch((error) => {
                         console.error('[SW] Failed to fetch segment:', error);
-                        // Throw error to let browser handle it
-                        throw error;
+                        // Return a proper error Response instead of throwing
+                        // This prevents "Load failed" and lets the client handle it
+                        return new Response('Network error', {
+                            status: 503,
+                            statusText: 'Service Worker: Network Unavailable'
+                        });
                     });
                 });
             })