I just recently joined the game, and I was having the same type of problem with my system. I took the suggestions here and added the port exceptions. Seemed to work fine for a few days, and now I am getting the same problem as before: "please wait" icon after 10-20 minutes.
I have to say, this really is frustrating, especially after deciding to register for a full acount. I've played many MMOs and have never had any connection issues whatsoever.
Too bad, was looking forward to experiencing the game
By any chance does anyone think this reintroduction of the problem might have to do with the update. I'm skeptical though, since for a few hours I was fine after the download.