thanks Birdy for getting back to me. (REGARDING PORTS - THEY ARE ALL SET UP CORRECTLY - SAME NUMBER ETC)

i am hoping its not Tiscali - as my ex who lived here used it and he had no problems downloading (he was running xp). However, I have had a lot of problems with tiscali lately - mainly after I upgraded to their top service as apparently I can get up to 7mg...which is a JOKE! I am currently running tests as my speed varies hugely and often runs slower than dial-up!
Interestingly, I downloaded LW Pro last night - and it worked! Today it doesnt. Leading me to believe that it IS tiscali and that they are not allowing me p2p access. Or that they have restricted me on their 'fair policy usage' (I was assured that they had removed this). OR that, like a number of other users, tiscali are only allowing p2p at certain times of the early morning (it was after midnight when LW worked last night)
Will work on tiscali. I tihnk I may have a battle on my hands.. Will post if I get any results!!