Everybody show as "Offline"

Hi, I'm using Ubuntu the hardy version 8.04, I'm trying to use Pidgin but all of my contacts show that they're offline, but I know that at least some of them are, sometimes I get a message that reads: "Can't send message refuse by client" or "can't send message contact is offline"; I try just about everything to no avail, I'm behind a router if that makes any difference, and I'm sure the router has a firewall, so I don't know how to set it up so I can start send IM messages, by the way I upgrade to Pidgin 2.6.3, the IM that I'm trying to use are AIM and MSN; Also I'm using web base mail; Any help with this problem is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.