diff --git a/apps/api-service/NETWORK_ERROR_DETECTION.md b/apps/api-service/NETWORK_ERROR_DETECTION.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ca9047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api-service/NETWORK_ERROR_DETECTION.md
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+# Network Error Detection
+
+## Overview
+
+This implementation adds intelligent network error detection to the Banatie API service. It follows best practices by **only checking connectivity when errors occur** (zero overhead on successful requests) and provides clear, actionable error messages to users.
+
+## Features
+
+### ✅ Lazy Validation
+- Network checks **only trigger on failures**
+- Zero performance overhead on successful requests
+- Follows the fail-fast pattern
+
+### ✅ Error Classification
+Automatically detects and classifies:
+- **DNS Resolution Failures** (`ENOTFOUND`, `EAI_AGAIN`)
+- **Connection Timeouts** (`ETIMEDOUT`)
+- **Connection Refused** (`ECONNREFUSED`)
+- **Connection Resets** (`ECONNRESET`, `ENETUNREACH`)
+- **Generic Network Errors** (fetch failed, etc.)
+
+### ✅ Clear User Messages
+
+**Before:**
+```
+Gemini AI generation failed: exception TypeError: fetch failed sending request
+```
+
+**After:**
+```
+Network error: Unable to connect to Gemini API. Please check your internet connection and firewall settings.
+```
+
+### ✅ Detailed Logging
+
+Logs contain both user-friendly messages and technical details:
+```
+[NETWORK ERROR - DNS] DNS resolution failed: Unable to resolve Gemini API hostname | Technical: Error code: ENOTFOUND
+```
+
+## Implementation
+
+### Core Utility
+
+**Location:** `src/utils/NetworkErrorDetector.ts`
+
+**Key Methods:**
+- `classifyError(error, serviceName)` - Analyzes an error and determines if it's network-related
+- `formatErrorForLogging(result)` - Formats errors for logging with technical details
+
+### Integration Points
+
+1. **ImageGenService** (`src/services/ImageGenService.ts`)
+   - Enhanced error handling in `generateImageWithAI()` method
+   - Provides clear network diagnostics when image generation fails
+
+2. **PromptEnhancementService** (`src/services/promptEnhancement/PromptEnhancementService.ts`)
+   - Enhanced error handling in `enhancePrompt()` method
+   - Helps users diagnose connectivity issues during prompt enhancement
+
+## How It Works
+
+### Normal Operation (No Overhead)
+```
+User Request → Service → Gemini API → Success ✓
+```
+No network checks performed - zero overhead.
+
+### Error Scenario (Smart Detection)
+```
+User Request → Service → Gemini API → Error ✗
+              ↓
+    NetworkErrorDetector.classifyError()
+              ↓
+    1. Check error code/message for network patterns
+    2. If network-related: Quick DNS check (2s timeout)
+    3. Return classification + user-friendly message
+```
+
+## Error Types
+
+| Error Type | Trigger | User Message |
+|-----------|---------|--------------|
+| `dns` | ENOTFOUND, EAI_AGAIN | DNS resolution failed: Unable to resolve Gemini API hostname |
+| `timeout` | ETIMEDOUT | Connection timeout: Gemini API did not respond in time |
+| `refused` | ECONNREFUSED | Connection refused: Service may be down or blocked by firewall |
+| `reset` | ECONNRESET, ENETUNREACH | Connection lost: Network connection was interrupted |
+| `connection` | General connectivity failure | Network connection failed: Unable to reach Gemini API |
+| `unknown` | Network keywords detected | Network error: Unable to connect to Gemini API |
+
+## Testing
+
+Run the manual test to see error detection in action:
+
+```bash
+npx tsx test-network-error-detector.ts
+```
+
+This demonstrates:
+- DNS errors
+- Timeout errors
+- Fetch failures (actual error from your logs)
+- Non-network errors (no false positives)
+
+## Example Error Logs
+
+### Before Implementation
+```
+[2025-10-09T16:56:29.228Z] [fmfnz0zp7] Text-to-image generation completed: {
+  success: false,
+  error: 'Gemini AI generation failed: exception TypeError: fetch failed sending request'
+}
+```
+
+### After Implementation
+```
+[ImageGenService] [NETWORK ERROR - UNKNOWN] Network error: Unable to connect to Gemini API. Please check your internet connection and firewall settings. | Technical: exception TypeError: fetch failed sending request
+```
+
+## Benefits
+
+1. **Better UX**: Users get actionable error messages
+2. **Faster Debugging**: Developers immediately know if it's a network issue
+3. **Zero Overhead**: No performance impact on successful requests
+4. **Production-Ready**: Follows industry best practices (AWS SDK, Stripe, Google Cloud)
+5. **Comprehensive**: Detects all major network error types
+
+## Future Enhancements
+
+Potential improvements:
+- Retry logic with exponential backoff for transient network errors
+- Circuit breaker pattern for repeated failures
+- Metrics/alerting for network error rates
+- Health check endpoint with connectivity status
diff --git a/apps/api-service/src/services/ImageGenService.ts b/apps/api-service/src/services/ImageGenService.ts
index 02e3ca1..3c73a91 100644
--- a/apps/api-service/src/services/ImageGenService.ts
+++ b/apps/api-service/src/services/ImageGenService.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
 } from '../types/api';
 import { StorageFactory } from './StorageFactory';
 import { TTILogger, TTILogEntry } from './TTILogger';
+import { NetworkErrorDetector } from '../utils/NetworkErrorDetector';
 
 export class ImageGenService {
   private ai: GoogleGenAI;
@@ -242,9 +243,16 @@ export class ImageGenService {
         geminiParams,
       };
     } catch (error) {
-      // Re-throw with clear error message
+      // Enhanced error detection with network diagnostics
       if (error instanceof Error) {
-        throw new Error(`Gemini AI generation failed: ${error.message}`);
+        // Classify the error and check for network issues (only on failure)
+        const errorAnalysis = await NetworkErrorDetector.classifyError(error, 'Gemini API');
+
+        // Log the detailed error for debugging
+        console.error(`[ImageGenService] ${NetworkErrorDetector.formatErrorForLogging(errorAnalysis)}`);
+
+        // Throw user-friendly error message
+        throw new Error(errorAnalysis.userMessage);
       }
       throw new Error('Gemini AI generation failed: Unknown error');
     }
diff --git a/apps/api-service/src/services/promptEnhancement/PromptEnhancementService.ts b/apps/api-service/src/services/promptEnhancement/PromptEnhancementService.ts
index 0cd6268..92bf20d 100644
--- a/apps/api-service/src/services/promptEnhancement/PromptEnhancementService.ts
+++ b/apps/api-service/src/services/promptEnhancement/PromptEnhancementService.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
 import { getAgent } from './agents';
 import { validatePromptLength } from './validators';
 import { EnhancementLogger } from './EnhancementLogger';
+import { NetworkErrorDetector } from '../../utils/NetworkErrorDetector';
 
 export class PromptEnhancementService {
   private apiKey: string;
@@ -102,11 +103,28 @@ export class PromptEnhancementService {
       console.log(`[${timestamp}] Enhancement completed successfully`);
       return result;
     } catch (error) {
+      // Enhanced error detection with network diagnostics
+      if (error instanceof Error) {
+        // Classify the error and check for network issues (only on failure)
+        const errorAnalysis = await NetworkErrorDetector.classifyError(error, 'Gemini API');
+
+        // Log the detailed error for debugging
+        console.error(
+          `[${timestamp}] [PromptEnhancementService] ${NetworkErrorDetector.formatErrorForLogging(errorAnalysis)}`,
+        );
+
+        return {
+          success: false,
+          originalPrompt: rawPrompt,
+          error: errorAnalysis.userMessage,
+        };
+      }
+
       console.error(`[${timestamp}] Prompt enhancement failed:`, error);
       return {
         success: false,
         originalPrompt: rawPrompt,
-        error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Enhancement failed',
+        error: 'Enhancement failed',
       };
     }
   }
diff --git a/apps/api-service/src/utils/NetworkErrorDetector.ts b/apps/api-service/src/utils/NetworkErrorDetector.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4dfb1cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api-service/src/utils/NetworkErrorDetector.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,174 @@
+import * as dns from 'dns';
+import { promisify } from 'util';
+
+const dnsLookup = promisify(dns.lookup);
+
+export interface NetworkErrorResult {
+  isNetworkError: boolean;
+  errorType?: 'connection' | 'dns' | 'timeout' | 'refused' | 'reset' | 'unknown';
+  userMessage: string;
+  technicalDetails?: string;
+}
+
+export class NetworkErrorDetector {
+  private static NETWORK_ERROR_CODES = [
+    'ENOTFOUND', // DNS resolution failed
+    'ETIMEDOUT', // Connection timeout
+    'ECONNREFUSED', // Connection refused
+    'ECONNRESET', // Connection reset
+    'ENETUNREACH', // Network unreachable
+    'EHOSTUNREACH', // Host unreachable
+    'EAI_AGAIN', // DNS temporary failure
+  ];
+
+  /**
+   * Classify an error and determine if it's network-related
+   * This is called ONLY when an error occurs (lazy validation)
+   */
+  static async classifyError(error: Error, serviceName: string = 'API'): Promise<NetworkErrorResult> {
+    const errorMessage = error.message.toLowerCase();
+    const errorCode = (error as any).code?.toUpperCase();
+
+    // Check if it's a known network error
+    if (this.isNetworkErrorCode(errorCode) || this.containsNetworkKeywords(errorMessage)) {
+      // Perform a quick connectivity check to confirm
+      const isOnline = await this.quickConnectivityCheck();
+
+      if (!isOnline) {
+        return {
+          isNetworkError: true,
+          errorType: 'connection',
+          userMessage: `Network connection failed: Unable to reach ${serviceName}. Please check your internet connection.`,
+          technicalDetails: error.message,
+        };
+      }
+
+      // Network is up, but specific error occurred
+      const specificError = this.getSpecificNetworkError(errorCode, errorMessage, serviceName);
+      return specificError;
+    }
+
+    // Not a network error - return original error
+    return {
+      isNetworkError: false,
+      userMessage: error.message,
+      technicalDetails: error.message,
+    };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Quick connectivity check - only called when an error occurs
+   * Tests DNS resolution to a reliable endpoint (Google DNS)
+   */
+  private static async quickConnectivityCheck(): Promise<boolean> {
+    try {
+      // Use Google's public DNS as a reliable test endpoint
+      await Promise.race([
+        dnsLookup('dns.google'),
+        new Promise((_, reject) => setTimeout(() => reject(new Error('Timeout')), 2000)),
+      ]);
+      return true;
+    } catch {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Check if error code is a known network error
+   */
+  private static isNetworkErrorCode(code?: string): boolean {
+    if (!code) return false;
+    return this.NETWORK_ERROR_CODES.includes(code);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Check if error message contains network-related keywords
+   */
+  private static containsNetworkKeywords(message: string): boolean {
+    const keywords = [
+      'fetch failed',
+      'network',
+      'connection',
+      'timeout',
+      'dns',
+      'unreachable',
+      'refused',
+      'reset',
+      'enotfound',
+      'etimedout',
+      'econnrefused',
+      'econnreset',
+    ];
+
+    return keywords.some((keyword) => message.includes(keyword));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get specific error details based on error code/message
+   */
+  private static getSpecificNetworkError(
+    code: string | undefined,
+    message: string,
+    serviceName: string,
+  ): NetworkErrorResult {
+    // DNS resolution failures
+    if (code === 'ENOTFOUND' || code === 'EAI_AGAIN' || message.includes('dns')) {
+      return {
+        isNetworkError: true,
+        errorType: 'dns',
+        userMessage: `DNS resolution failed: Unable to resolve ${serviceName} hostname. Check your DNS settings or internet connection.`,
+        technicalDetails: `Error code: ${code || 'unknown'}`,
+      };
+    }
+
+    // Connection timeout
+    if (code === 'ETIMEDOUT' || message.includes('timeout')) {
+      return {
+        isNetworkError: true,
+        errorType: 'timeout',
+        userMessage: `Connection timeout: ${serviceName} did not respond in time. This may be due to slow internet or firewall blocking.`,
+        technicalDetails: `Error code: ${code || 'timeout'}`,
+      };
+    }
+
+    // Connection refused
+    if (code === 'ECONNREFUSED' || message.includes('refused')) {
+      return {
+        isNetworkError: true,
+        errorType: 'refused',
+        userMessage: `Connection refused: ${serviceName} is not accepting connections. Service may be down or blocked by firewall.`,
+        technicalDetails: `Error code: ${code || 'refused'}`,
+      };
+    }
+
+    // Connection reset
+    if (code === 'ECONNRESET' || code === 'ENETUNREACH' || code === 'EHOSTUNREACH') {
+      return {
+        isNetworkError: true,
+        errorType: 'reset',
+        userMessage: `Connection lost: Network connection to ${serviceName} was interrupted. Check your internet stability.`,
+        technicalDetails: `Error code: ${code || 'reset'}`,
+      };
+    }
+
+    // Generic network error
+    return {
+      isNetworkError: true,
+      errorType: 'unknown',
+      userMessage: `Network error: Unable to connect to ${serviceName}. Please check your internet connection and firewall settings.`,
+      technicalDetails: message,
+    };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Format error for logging with both user-friendly and technical details
+   */
+  static formatErrorForLogging(result: NetworkErrorResult): string {
+    if (result.isNetworkError) {
+      return `[NETWORK ERROR - ${result.errorType?.toUpperCase()}] ${result.userMessage}${
+        result.technicalDetails ? ` | Technical: ${result.technicalDetails}` : ''
+      }`;
+    }
+    return result.userMessage;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/api-service/test-network-error-detector.ts b/apps/api-service/test-network-error-detector.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f1cc08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api-service/test-network-error-detector.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/**
+ * Manual test script for NetworkErrorDetector
+ * Run with: npx tsx test-network-error-detector.ts
+ */
+
+import { NetworkErrorDetector } from './src/utils/NetworkErrorDetector';
+
+async function testNetworkErrorDetector() {
+  console.log('🧪 Testing NetworkErrorDetector\n');
+
+  // Test 1: DNS Error
+  console.log('Test 1: DNS Resolution Error (ENOTFOUND)');
+  const dnsError = new Error('getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND api.example.com');
+  (dnsError as any).code = 'ENOTFOUND';
+  const dnsResult = await NetworkErrorDetector.classifyError(dnsError, 'Gemini API');
+  console.log('  Is Network Error:', dnsResult.isNetworkError);
+  console.log('  Error Type:', dnsResult.errorType);
+  console.log('  User Message:', dnsResult.userMessage);
+  console.log('  Formatted Log:', NetworkErrorDetector.formatErrorForLogging(dnsResult));
+  console.log('');
+
+  // Test 2: Timeout Error
+  console.log('Test 2: Connection Timeout (ETIMEDOUT)');
+  const timeoutError = new Error('connect ETIMEDOUT 142.250.185.10:443');
+  (timeoutError as any).code = 'ETIMEDOUT';
+  const timeoutResult = await NetworkErrorDetector.classifyError(timeoutError, 'Gemini API');
+  console.log('  Is Network Error:', timeoutResult.isNetworkError);
+  console.log('  Error Type:', timeoutResult.errorType);
+  console.log('  User Message:', timeoutResult.userMessage);
+  console.log('  Formatted Log:', NetworkErrorDetector.formatErrorForLogging(timeoutResult));
+  console.log('');
+
+  // Test 3: Fetch Failed (actual error from logs)
+  console.log('Test 3: Fetch Failed Error (from your logs)');
+  const fetchError = new Error('exception TypeError: fetch failed sending request');
+  const fetchResult = await NetworkErrorDetector.classifyError(fetchError, 'Gemini API');
+  console.log('  Is Network Error:', fetchResult.isNetworkError);
+  console.log('  Error Type:', fetchResult.errorType);
+  console.log('  User Message:', fetchResult.userMessage);
+  console.log('  Formatted Log:', NetworkErrorDetector.formatErrorForLogging(fetchResult));
+  console.log('');
+
+  // Test 4: Non-network Error
+  console.log('Test 4: Non-Network Error (Invalid API Key)');
+  const apiError = new Error('Invalid API key provided');
+  const apiResult = await NetworkErrorDetector.classifyError(apiError, 'Gemini API');
+  console.log('  Is Network Error:', apiResult.isNetworkError);
+  console.log('  User Message:', apiResult.userMessage);
+  console.log('  Formatted Log:', NetworkErrorDetector.formatErrorForLogging(apiResult));
+  console.log('');
+
+  console.log('✅ Tests completed!');
+  console.log('\n📝 Summary:');
+  console.log('  - Network errors are detected and classified');
+  console.log('  - User-friendly messages are provided');
+  console.log('  - Technical details are preserved for logging');
+  console.log('  - No overhead on successful requests (only runs on failures)');
+}
+
+testNetworkErrorDetector().catch(console.error);