Hello!

Couple of things spring to mind - both a bit noddy so please don't feel
disgruntled that I'm suggesting them. What you've described feels
networky to me. Is the interface definitely up and listening? Also
when you install, it asks you whether you want to run sshd by default -
did you hit yes? I reckon it's worth checking these two.

After that, I've recently been posting about some trouble I've been
having with a machine I've got that sounds like it's for a similar
purpose. It's the ssh hanging thread. All my config files are in that
thread and may help. Yesterday I worked out what the problem was too
(though not why!). I'll post that at the end of the thread...
Hope this helps,

Ben