This doesn't resonate with my experience. I place the line between a warning and an error whether the operation can or can't be completed.

A connection timed out, retrying in 30 secs? That's a warning. Gave up connecting after 5 failed attempts? Now that's an error.

I don't care so much if the origin of the error is within the program, or the system, or the network. If I can't get what I'm asking for, it can't be a mere warning.