Kodi Network/Internet “Busy”

I just received a firestick with kodi (16.1) as a gift, and need to make sure it’s clear I am a novice user (I’ve seen some rather harsh responses on this community board so far).

My firestick is connected wirelessly and we have no issues with other devices on our extremely fast network.
In my first few efforts with my already configured Kodi, I was able to access only one or two films which both froze in the first few minutes.
I also noticed it took much longer to access any add on in Kodi than any of the support videos I watched on You tube.
I chose to delete the data for Kodi, thinking it might increase my speed, but of course wiped out the add ons in the process. Doh!
In my effort to reinstall add ons from the existing zip files, I have no success. Nothing happens.
Checking the network status of Kodi, it is perpetually busy, with an occasional “connected,” which is shortlived.

No idea why I’m having issues and my research efforts have gone for naught. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.