Question about Outlook Express

About a month ago, my Verizon email started to have sporadic problems. This got worse, then it got better, then last week it became an almost constant problem. I've reported it to Verizon many times. They usually say that there is no problem, but several people confirmed that they are having server issues. They've had me change my settings several times, and nothing helped. I cannot receive any email except on the webmail application online. This is bad because I can't access all my functionality. The error that comes back when the email program (both Live Mail and Outlook) is:

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Unable to send or receive messages for the Verizon (xxxxxxxxxx) account. A time-out occurred while communicating with the server.

Server: 'pop.verizon.net'
Windows Live Mail Error ID: 0x800CCC19
Protocol: POP3
Port: 995
Secure(SSL): Yes

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Is there an answer or am I at the mercy of the Verizon Tech staff? This is really getting ridiculous.

Thanks in advance!

I have two Hotmail email accounts one I have been able to receive emails for a while now.  I keep getting this message for one and this only started a few days ago when Windows 8 updated on my computer.

Unable to send or receive messages for the Hotmail

Server Error: 0x801941F7
Server: 'https://m.hotmail.com/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync'
Windows Live Mail Error ID: 0x801941F7

I have been receiving this message for a couple of months now. 

Unable to send or receive messages for the Hotmail.

Server Error: 0x80004005
Server: 'https://m.hotmail.com/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync'
Windows Live Mail Error ID: 0x80004005

All email accounts work fine on both my mobile and tablet.

How do I rectify this?