"Unable to contact the iMessage server. Try again."

When logging into iMessage on my iPhone 5 after the ios 10 update, I get an error message that says: "Unable to contact the iMessage server. Try again." iCloud won't let me sign in on my device, and just says "Verifying..." until "Verifying..." disappears and I'm still not signed in.

All of my messages, contacts, notes, and calendars are gone. Any changes I make to the phone are wiped out whenever I turn off my phone.

I have tried a million hacks I've found on this forum regarding updates, iCloud, Apple ID, security, etc, etc, etc. I don't want to wipe my phone until Apple comes out with ios 10.2 and/or I've exhausted all options, so where do I go from here?

Thanks!