I have never had ANY trouble getting patches and updates, or running the game...EVER. My router is my firewall, although the Windows firewall is set to allow aceshigh through. Maybe you're not running it as administrator, or you have some odd anti-virus or third party software firewall, or some other windows security setting is causing problems. Like was already said, the hundreds of other people flying around would indicate the issue is yours, not HTC's. And I also agree if anyone is so quick to blame HTC for something that seems to be a local issue and threatens to cancel their subscription, then I also say "Buh-bye, we really don't need you". HTC has some of the best tech support around, if you haven't even made an attempt to get their help, then again..."Buh-bye".