Unable to sign in

Hi, I can't log onto to messenger I get the error

We were unable to sign you to .Net Messenger Service,
possibly because of a problem with the service or our
Internet connection. Please make sure you are connected
to the Internet. 0x81000306

I can log into hotmail using the same username/password,
I,ve removed Zone alarm firewall to see if it makes any
difference but I still get the same error!!

Gary