Galaxy J5 - There was a problem communicating with google Servers

Just got my new phone for christmas and trying to get into goolge, comes up with the above message. I need to download whatsapp and other apps but it won;t allow me to. Any suggestions that won't harm my phone or apps.

Welcome to Android Central! Does this happen on both wi-fi and mobile data? Were you able to add your Google account to the phone without problem during the Setup Wizard?