FTP, can't access Host

I'm not new to FTP. I've used it before when I had sites to maintain but it's been a year since I've owned a site (and many re-boots, comp probs etc later) and I'm looking to start a new one. Anyways, I signed up at a web host, tried to access their server to upload my site and I keep getting the "Operation Timed out" error. I disabled my antivirus/firewall still no luck. Made sure I had all my critical updates. Switched between Passive and not under Internet options. I've d/l about ten FTP clients in the last few days and still no luck. Everytime I try to connect, it says connection failed/timed out. I thought maybe it was the host so I made a dummy account on another host and can't connect to that one either. I've contacted my original host and they can't seem to help me beyond "Enable Passive mode, Disable your firewall". I've done all that. I used to be able to connect through IE FTP and that won't even work. I never had problems like this before. I'm at my wits end. I've tried searching for plugins, add-ons etc and I'm not coming up with anything. Help?

Hey Nymph In A Box!

have you tried connecting through simple FTP commands? Sometimes, that helps you see the problem.

You might also want to ping the server, just to make sure you're using a correct IP, user and password (may sound dumb, but has happened before)