I don't know for sure what your specific problem is, but a couple ideas to look at

1) make sure your own ISP isn't down if you haven't already. try to pull up a webpage or just open DOS and try to ping out (if you know how).

2) if this is your first attempt to connect, and you CAN surf to webpages or ping, you may be hitting a firewall. do you have a software firewall installed? using a router? if so, i would look into that as well, as some firewall settings will block the ports FL needs to access the global server list.

My internet is up, no idea how to "ping out" though. I never installed any software protection or anything, so I doubt it is that. AS for routers, I dont use one, only an external DSL modem.

If I may ask, do you know the brand and model of your modem? Some DSL modems (such as the Westell Wirespeed 2100) have built in firewalls as well. Typically they're configured to allow traffic on the main ports used by games and internet, but I suppose there's always the chance that could be a problem as well. You may try calling your ISP's tech support and asking about that, actually! If that's not the problem, then unfortunately I can't go much further without actually being there at the computer, sorry.

I'll tell you what worked for me. Whenever I have problems with my game not connecting to global, I just go to the LAN list instead. Once I have gone to the Lan section, I go back to internet and it connects. Also try making sure you have the latest windows updates installed.

Well, I dont know the brand, it just came with my Telus internet connection if any of you have heard of Telus :p.

On the modem itself it says D-Link DSL 3001. Installing the windows updates now.

I took the liberty of looking at the D-Link stats for that modem, and apparently it SHOULD be configured to allow all games outside access so that isn't the problem. Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, I can't really go much further than that tho without being there, or at least having you on a phone to walk thru some troubleshooting steps...my apologies

i had to open ports 2300 to 2400 on my linksys router. if that helps

I had this problem my very first game. I was on a cable modem, and in my case it just was that my ISP was very very slow. I ended up turning off my modem and turning it on again, then it worked.

Make sure your filters don't block everything out either like I did by accident once. heh.