I had the same problem, I later found out that it was because of my own ignorance. I didn't follow the instructions correctly. I just assumed that it wasn't that important to sign in through the XMB menu. This is the way I do it, even though you may already have tried this method you may wanna do it again. It can't hurt, can it? Step one: make sure you have the right eboot, there are different ones for multiplayer/zombies. Step two: start the game offline. Step three: sign in through the XMB menu (not through the game itself). Step four: exit the XMB menu, and wait for 30 seconds, preferably not any less. There you go, you're done (hopefully).
If you follow this you shouldn't have to go through the "connecting to online services". You should be able to go online directly. I hope this helps.
Best regards - Johannes