When you program the PICs (either the etherdongle one or the SSC one), do you select the checkbox to power the device in the pickit3 programmer software?
When you use the smart string utility, what type of SSC is attached to your system (v1, v2 or did you do the mod for v3)?
When you programmed the SSC with the smart string utility, what type of light string was attached to it, and did you have the jumper on the SSC itself closed?
Also how was your system connected? A (somewhat) standard connection for what you are trying to do would be:
PC->EtherDongle->active HUB->SSC->light string