diff --git a/packages/api/src/routes/finder.ts b/packages/api/src/routes/finder.ts
index 10d2762..ca5a0a7 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/routes/finder.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/routes/finder.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,11 @@ finderRouter.get("/", async (req, res) => {
       return res.status(400).json({ error: "Parameter 'switch' is required" });
     }
 
-    // Step 1: Find the switch
+    // Step 1: Find the switch — try multiple search strategies
+    const q = String(switchQuery);
+    // Normalized form: remove hyphens/spaces for fuzzy match (sg350-28 → sg35028)
+    const qNorm = q.replace(/[\s\-_]/g, "");
+
     const switchResult = await pool.query(
       `SELECT sw.id, sw.model, sw.series, sw.ports_config, sw.max_speed_gbps,
               v.name AS vendor_name, sw.image_url, sw.datasheet_r2_key
@@ -31,20 +35,38 @@ finderRouter.get("/", async (req, res) => {
        JOIN vendors v ON sw.vendor_id = v.id
        WHERE sw.model ILIKE $1
           OR sw.model ILIKE '%' || $1 || '%'
-          OR sw.search_vector @@ plainto_tsquery('english', $1)
+          OR REPLACE(REPLACE(sw.model, '-', ''), ' ', '') ILIKE '%' || $2 || '%'
+          OR sw.search_vector @@ plainto_tsquery('english', $3)
        ORDER BY
          CASE WHEN sw.model ILIKE $1 THEN 0
               WHEN sw.model ILIKE $1 || '%' THEN 1
-              ELSE 2 END
+              WHEN REPLACE(REPLACE(sw.model, '-', ''), ' ', '') ILIKE $2 || '%' THEN 2
+              ELSE 3 END
        LIMIT 5`,
-      [switchQuery]
+      [q, qNorm, q.replace(/[^\w\s]/g, " ")]
     );
 
     if (switchResult.rows.length === 0) {
-      return res.status(404).json({
-        error: "Switch not found",
-        suggestion: "Try a partial model name like 'N9K-C93180' or 'QFX5120'"
-      });
+      // Try one more time with individual tokens
+      const tokens = q.split(/[\s\-_]+/).filter((t) => t.length >= 3);
+      let fallbackResult = { rows: [] as any[] };
+      if (tokens.length > 0) {
+        fallbackResult = await pool.query(
+          `SELECT sw.id, sw.model, sw.series, sw.ports_config, sw.max_speed_gbps,
+                  v.name AS vendor_name, sw.image_url, sw.datasheet_r2_key
+           FROM switches sw JOIN vendors v ON sw.vendor_id = v.id
+           WHERE ${tokens.map((_, i) => `sw.model ILIKE '%' || $${i + 1} || '%'`).join(" AND ")}
+           LIMIT 5`,
+          tokens
+        );
+      }
+      if (fallbackResult.rows.length === 0) {
+        return res.status(404).json({
+          error: `Switch "${q}" not found in the database`,
+          suggestion: `Try a partial model name, e.g. "${tokens[0] || q.substring(0, 6)}" — or check spelling. Available: Cisco Nexus, Arista, Juniper QFX, Edgecore, Mellanox.`
+        });
+      }
+      switchResult.rows.push(...fallbackResult.rows);
     }
 
     const sw = switchResult.rows[0];
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/index.html b/packages/dashboard/index.html
index 5dd8235..7fcc92a 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/index.html
+++ b/packages/dashboard/index.html
@@ -1083,9 +1083,19 @@ function el(id) { return document.getElementById(id); }
 function api(path) {
   return fetch(API + path).then(function(r) {
     var ct = r.headers.get('content-type') || '';
-    if (!r.ok) throw new Error('HTTP ' + r.status);
-    if (ct.indexOf('application/json') === -1) throw new Error('Server returned non-JSON response');
-    return r.json();
+    if (ct.indexOf('application/json') === -1) {
+      if (!r.ok) throw new Error('HTTP ' + r.status);
+      throw new Error('Server returned non-JSON response');
+    }
+    // Parse JSON even on error so callers can read error.message / error.suggestion
+    return r.json().then(function(body) {
+      if (!r.ok) {
+        var err = new Error(body.error || ('HTTP ' + r.status));
+        err.body = body;
+        throw err;
+      }
+      return body;
+    });
   });
 }
 
@@ -2836,7 +2846,14 @@ async function runFinder() {
       tcvrHtml;
 
   } catch(e) {
-    results.innerHTML = '<div class="card" style="border-left:3px solid #c1121f">Error: ' + e.message + '</div>';
+    var body = e.body || {};
+    var msg = body.error || e.message || 'Unknown error';
+    var suggestion = body.suggestion || '';
+    results.innerHTML = '<div class="card" style="border-left:3px solid #c1121f;padding:1rem">'
+      + '<div style="font-weight:700;margin-bottom:0.3rem">Switch not found</div>'
+      + '<div style="color:var(--text-dim);font-size:0.85rem">' + esc(msg) + '</div>'
+      + (suggestion ? '<div style="color:var(--text-dim);font-size:0.8rem;margin-top:0.4rem">💡 ' + esc(suggestion) + '</div>' : '')
+      + '</div>';
   }
 }