problems connecting to server

i just got smartftp today after trying several different clients that wouldn't work. i have used ftp commander until about 1 month ago when it stopped working on my computer. when using smartftp i get this message and i don't understand it at all :-/

Resolving host name ftp.xxxx-xxxxx.xxx...
Connecting to (ftp.xxxx-xxxxx.xxx) -> IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx PORT: 21
No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.
Cannot login waiting to retry (30s)...


can anyone help/explain this to me?