after the latest patch i could not get on either. unfortunately, i didn't write down the error messages to send to skuzzy. i tried multiple times with different settings to no avail. firewall wasn't a problem, neither was anti-virus. finally i just went to plan C. i renamed my aces high folder and did a full download and install and then copied the files i needed over to the Aces high folder. everything worked out fine and i was up and running in a short time. i hope this helps some of you!
i run windows 7-32bit, 1Tb raid 0, I7-266, 6gigs of ram, ati4890 video, full tower