diff --git a/backend/AGENTS.md b/backend/AGENTS.md
index f8bb0a3..49d3443 100644
--- a/backend/AGENTS.md
+++ b/backend/AGENTS.md
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ unchanged read is exactly the Sighting worth deferring a Poll on.
   rest.
 
 **Refusals and browser loss are Lane-local.** Two `errChallengeHeld` in a pass
-stop that Site for `refuseBackoff` while other Lanes continue. An
+stop that Site for `RefuseBackoff` while other Lanes continue. An
 `errBrowserInterrupted` (remote Chrome restarted) sets a shared Poller flag so
 the *other* browser Lanes skip their passes for the same window — otherwise a
 restarting Chrome stamps one Series per Lane per pass, burning rests on
diff --git a/backend/internal/web/admin.go b/backend/internal/web/admin.go
index 81f07dc..4e6c6cc 100644
--- a/backend/internal/web/admin.go
+++ b/backend/internal/web/admin.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
 	"strconv"
-	"time"
 
 	"bookmarkmanager/backend/internal/store"
 )
diff --git a/backend/internal/web/admin_lanes.go b/backend/internal/web/admin_lanes.go
index ae5fe73..7cc5bd1 100644
--- a/backend/internal/web/admin_lanes.go
+++ b/backend/internal/web/admin_lanes.go
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@ func (h *Handler) lanesView() lanesView {
 	passes, err := h.store.LatestLanePasses()
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("admin lanes: latest passes: %v", err)
+		// No evidence of a lost sidecar reads as reachable, per the same rule
+		// browserReachable applies: a store failure must not condemn the
+		// browser. The empty table already says no Lane has recorded a pass.
+		v.BrowserReachable = true
 		return v
 	}
 	now := time.Now()
diff --git a/backend/internal/web/templates/lanes.html b/backend/internal/web/templates/lanes.html
index a978861..5ac35d4 100644
--- a/backend/internal/web/templates/lanes.html
+++ b/backend/internal/web/templates/lanes.html
@@ -14,9 +14,8 @@
   <div class="sechead">
     <h2 class="sec">Poll Lanes</h2>
     <p class="statusline">
-      {{if .PollerOff}}Polling is switched off in this deployment: no Lane
-      runs, and Latest Chapter comes from the userscripts alone.
-      {{else}}Browser: {{if not .BrowserConfigured}}<span class="mark-faint">not configured</span>{{else if .BrowserReachable}}<span class="mark mark-strong">reachable</span>{{else}}<span class="mark mark-strong bad">unreachable</span>{{end}}{{end}}
+      {{if .PollerOff}}Polling: <span class="mark-faint">off</span>
+      {{else}}Browser: {{if not .BrowserConfigured}}<span class="mark-faint">not configured</span>{{else if .BrowserReachable}}<span class="mark mark-strong">reachable</span>{{else}}<span class="mark bad">unreachable</span>{{end}}{{end}}
     </p>
   </div>
   {{if .Rows}}
diff --git a/backend/main.go b/backend/main.go
index ca2bd90..629e1cf 100644
--- a/backend/main.go
+++ b/backend/main.go
@@ -343,7 +343,8 @@ func newLatestPoller(s *store.Store, cfg LatestPoll, fetch, browser latest.Fetch
 // HTTP client cannot be built. Any problem here is logged and skipped: this
 // feature going missing degrades the service to userscript-only latest-chapter
 // tracking, which is exactly how it behaved before. It returns the running
-// Poller, or nil when there is none — the admin page's Lane status reads it.
+// Poller, or nil when there is none; the caller starts it for its own sake —
+// the Lanes page reads the pass log, so no return value is wired anywhere.
 func startLatestPoller(ctx context.Context, s *store.Store, cfg LatestPoll, browser latest.Fetcher) *latest.Poller {
 	if !cfg.Enabled {
 		log.Println("latest-chapter poller: disabled by config")
diff --git a/backend/web_test.go b/backend/web_test.go
index 54f4f42..4ff5362 100644
--- a/backend/web_test.go
+++ b/backend/web_test.go
@@ -885,7 +885,7 @@ func TestAdminPageWithoutAPollerSaysSo(t *testing.T) {
 		cfg          Config
 		want, unwant string
 	}{
-		{"polling switched off", testConfig(), "Polling is switched off", "not configured"},
+		{"polling switched off", testConfig(), `Polling: <span class="mark-faint">off</span>`, "not configured"},
 		{"browser not configured", lanesConfig(), "not configured", "Polling is switched off"},
 	} {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -986,7 +986,7 @@ func TestBrowserConfigAndReachabilityDerived(t *testing.T) {
 		router, st := newWebTestServer(t, lanesConfig())
 		seedPass(t, st, store.LanePass{Site: "kagane", RanAt: now.UnixMilli(), Skip: latest.SkipNoFetcher})
 		body := lanesBody(t, router, st)
-		if !strings.Contains(body, "not configured") || strings.Contains(body, "unreachable") {
+		if !strings.Contains(body, `mark-faint">not configured`) || strings.Contains(body, "unreachable") {
 			t.Errorf("unset BROWSER_WS_URL must read as not configured:\n%s", body)
 		}
 	})
@@ -997,7 +997,7 @@ func TestBrowserConfigAndReachabilityDerived(t *testing.T) {
 		router, st := newWebTestServer(t, cfg)
 		seedPass(t, st, store.LanePass{Site: "kagane", RanAt: now.Add(-time.Minute).UnixMilli(), Skip: latest.SkipSidecarDown})
 		body := lanesBody(t, router, st)
-		if !strings.Contains(body, "unreachable") {
+		if !strings.Contains(body, `bad">unreachable`) {
 			t.Errorf("recent sidecar-down passes must read as unreachable:\n%s", body)
 		}
 	})
@@ -1008,7 +1008,7 @@ func TestBrowserConfigAndReachabilityDerived(t *testing.T) {
 		router, st := newWebTestServer(t, cfg)
 		seedPass(t, st, store.LanePass{Site: "kagane", RanAt: now.Add(-time.Minute).UnixMilli(), Checked: 3})
 		body := lanesBody(t, router, st)
-		if !strings.Contains(body, "reachable") {
+		if !strings.Contains(body, `mark-strong">reachable`) {
 			t.Errorf("clean browser passes must read as reachable:\n%s", body)
 		}
 	})
@@ -1019,7 +1019,7 @@ func TestBrowserConfigAndReachabilityDerived(t *testing.T) {
 		router, st := newWebTestServer(t, cfg)
 		seedPass(t, st, store.LanePass{Site: "kagane", RanAt: now.Add(-30 * time.Minute).UnixMilli(), Skip: latest.SkipSidecarDown})
 		body := lanesBody(t, router, st)
-		if !strings.Contains(body, "reachable") {
+		if !strings.Contains(body, `mark-strong">reachable`) {
 			t.Errorf("a sidecar-down older than the backoff must read as reachable:\n%s", body)
 		}
 	})