Hi Matt Stevenson,
Sounds like your setup is good, but your running into the problem of fake files that are on the network. Try d/loading a file from here:
http://www.magnetmix.com/audio2.shtml. These are guaranteed to be good. If they go to need more sources, right click the file and click find more sources. The file should start d/loading shortly. This will show that your connection is good and you can d/load files.
More info on fake files:
Recognising Fake files, also this post by LOTR:
http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showthread.php?t=63993.
Check files with
Bitzi Web Lookup before downloading. It'll help you sort out if it's a good file or not. While on the Bitzi site, search for the file there and use the magnet link to launch the file in limewire. Then search for it again in LW. Sometimes that'll help you find the good files.
Also preview the file when it gets to 10% to check that it's what the title says.
See this thread for tips on searching and downloading files.
How to find music(same principles apply to movies).