diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 77a2f00..6e91704 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ COPY --chmod=0755 retry /usr/local/bin/retry
 COPY --chmod=0755 apt_check /usr/local/bin/apt_check
 COPY --chmod=0755 apt_update /usr/local/bin/apt_update
 COPY --chmod=0755 apt_install /usr/local/bin/apt_install
-RUN apt_update && apt_install -y wget iproute2 && apt_check
+RUN apt_update && apt_install -y curl wget iproute2 netcat-openbsd && apt_check
 
 # Checks if the 'crossbuilder' user exists. 
 RUN if ! id crossbuilder 2>/dev/null;then \
diff --git a/Dockerfile-cross b/Dockerfile-cross
index 8713140..630ed61 100644
--- a/Dockerfile-cross
+++ b/Dockerfile-cross
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ COPY --chmod=0755 retry /usr/local/bin/retry
 COPY --chmod=0755 apt_check /usr/local/bin/apt_check
 COPY --chmod=0755 apt_update /usr/local/bin/apt_update
 COPY --chmod=0755 apt_install /usr/local/bin/apt_install
-RUN apt_update && apt_install -y wget iproute2 && apt_check
+RUN apt_update && apt_install -y curl wget iproute2 netcat-openbsd && apt_check
 
 RUN groupadd -g $BUILD_GID crossbuilder
 RUN useradd -d /home/crossbuilder -m -g $BUILD_GID -u $BUILD_UID -s /bin/bash crossbuilder
diff --git a/apt_check b/apt_check
index f20d7ba..b2b0d86 100755
--- a/apt_check
+++ b/apt_check
@@ -1,36 +1,59 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-set -e
-
 REPO_HOST="aptrepo.effective-range.com"
 
+echo -n "ℹ️ Runner public IP: "
+curl -s https://api.ipify.org
+echo
+
+echo
+
+echo "ℹ️ Checking DNS resolution for $REPO_HOST..."
 DNS_RESULT=$(getent hosts "$REPO_HOST")
+echo "$DNS_RESULT"
 if [ -z "$DNS_RESULT" ]; then
-  echo "[ERROR] DNS resolution failed for $REPO_HOST" >&2
+  echo "❌ DNS resolution failed for $REPO_HOST" >&2
   exit 1
 else
-  echo "[INFO] DNS resolution for $REPO_HOST: $DNS_RESULT"
+  echo "✅ DNS resolution successful for $REPO_HOST"
   REPO_IP=$(echo "$DNS_RESULT" | awk '{print $1}')
 fi
 
+echo
+
+echo "ℹ️ Checking route to host $REPO_HOST..."
 ROUTE_RESULT=$(ip route get "$REPO_IP" 2>&1)
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-  echo "[ERROR] No route to host $REPO_HOST ($REPO_IP)" >&2
-  echo "$ROUTE_RESULT"
+  echo "$ROUTE_RESULT" | head -n 1
+  echo "❌ No route to host $REPO_HOST ($REPO_IP)" >&2
   exit 2
 else
-  echo "[INFO] Route to $REPO_HOST ($REPO_IP):"
-  echo "$ROUTE_RESULT"
+  echo "$ROUTE_RESULT" | head -n 1
+  echo "✅ Found route to host $REPO_HOST ($REPO_IP)"
 fi
 
-KEY_URL="http://$REPO_HOST/effectiverange.gpg.key"
-echo "[INFO] Checking HTTP connectivity to $KEY_URL..."
-if ! wget --spider --timeout=10 --tries=2 "$KEY_URL"; then
-  echo "[ERROR] Failed to fetch $KEY_URL" >&2
+echo
+
+echo "ℹ️ Checking TCP connectivity to $REPO_HOST..."
+if ! nc -vz -w 5 "$REPO_IP" 80; then
+  echo "❌ TCP connectivity to $REPO_HOST ($REPO_IP) on port 80 failed" >&2
   exit 3
 else
-  echo "[INFO] Successfully fetched $KEY_URL"
+  echo "✅ TCP connectivity to $REPO_HOST ($REPO_IP) on port 80 is successful"
 fi
 
-echo "[INFO] All connectivity checks passed for $REPO_HOST"
+echo
+
+KEY_URL="http://$REPO_HOST/effectiverange.gpg.key"
+echo "ℹ️ Checking HTTP connectivity to $KEY_URL..."
+if ! wget -nv --spider --timeout=10 --tries=2 "$KEY_URL"; then
+  echo "❌ Failed to fetch $KEY_URL" >&2
+  exit 4
+else
+  echo "✅ Successfully fetched $KEY_URL"
+fi
+
+echo
+
+echo "✅ All connectivity checks passed for $REPO_HOST"
 exit 0
diff --git a/build_tools/dpkgdeps_src/dpkgdeps/dpkgdeps.py b/build_tools/dpkgdeps_src/dpkgdeps/dpkgdeps.py
index 59997e2..c3a3e77 100755
--- a/build_tools/dpkgdeps_src/dpkgdeps/dpkgdeps.py
+++ b/build_tools/dpkgdeps_src/dpkgdeps/dpkgdeps.py
@@ -266,6 +266,7 @@ def install_in_buildroot(args, allDeps):
 
 
 def install_in_hostroot(args, allDeps):
+    run_in_hostroot_with_lock(build_arch, "apt_check")
     install_in_root(build_arch, run_in_hostroot_with_lock, allDeps, side="host")