I don't have trouble connecting but I stopped getting the QB emails about 2 months ago.
I emailed QB support about it but never got a reply from them.
I emailed Patrice she replied with some suggestions to try
I added all the things I needed to my safe sender list etc. that
Patrice suggested and still no emails.
So finally I just added a shortcut to QB website right to my desktop so now I just
click the shortcut and it comes right up on the main page.
Good luck with solving your problem.