You said you didn't have another way to join; I pointed out other options.
Troubleshooting suggestions are to either fix the problem directly, or to help narrow down the problem.
Lowering the resolution and sound volume was to be able to run 2 instances of the game on your computer, thus eliminating all but local networking from being a possible problem.
Being able to host but not join removes the ISP issues from consideration.
Etc.
Chat was down for me, as well, when I checked again in the developer version (was working earlier today). I switch to the EA release, and it took a long time to connect, but is currently working.
There may be issues with the number of users, or there may be changes being made leading up to release.
Global chat may be removed for the release (it was great in Early Access for D:OS, but there were issues after release: volume, spoilers, trolling, etc). Leaving it available would require more servers and moderation.
However, any test message tried when not connected should just disappear, with no other feedback or response from the game.
Try reseting your network adapter:
- click Start (or Search in Win 10), type cmd into the search box, right click Command Prompt and select run as administrator.
- type the following command and hit Enter
netsh winsock reset
- when that is done, there should be a message 'Winsock reset completed successfully'
- type exit and hit Enter, then reboot your computer.
For more details, see:
https://iihelp.iinet.net.au/Resetting_Network_Adapter_(Winsock_Reset)
