New AT&T iPhone 4 Activation without AT&T service issue

[itsnevo]

Please bear with the lengthy post, I just want everyone to know the specifics of the problem I'm facing right now before responding.

I bought a used damaged iPhone 4 last week with the intention of replacing the LCD screen to find out that there were many other problems with the phone. I brought it to the Apple Store and found out that I had 1 day left of the original warranty. They exchanged the iPhone for a new one right then and there for free but because I don't use AT&T, they couldn't activate my iPhone in the store.

I right now have a 3GS iPhone that I am using with T-Mobile and I had planned on jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone 4 and switching back and forth with my iPhone 4 and 3GS. (the 3GS is a 32gb and the iPhone 4 is only a 16gb) Unfortunately I haven't been able to get a T-Mobile Micro SIM card yet because until the iPhone 4 is unlocked, I'd have to use my 3GS with an adapter with I ordered, but hasn't come in yet. (and you cannot have more than one SIM card assigned to a phone number at a time)

Here's the problem....

Right now if I turn on my iPhone 4, I get the "Connect to iTunes" logo and the option to make an emergency call. When I connect the iPhone to iTunes, I get a message saying "We're sorry, we are unable to continue with your activation at this time". I'm unable to get my iPhone 4 to the point where I can jailbreak it and unlock it to use a T-Mobile SIM card.

The question is, can I activate a brand new iPhone 4 with a T-Mobile SIM card or can I use someone else's active AT&T SIM card just to activate the iPhone so I can get it to the point where I can jailbreak and unlock it and use it with T-Mobile??

If I use someone else's AT&T SIM card just to activate my phone, would my phone end up being associated with someone else's AT&T account?

If anyone has had a similar issue, what were you able to do to get past this issue??

 

[IrishVixen]

Actually, your first problem is that your new iPhone 4 cannot be unlocked via software. The last baseband for that model that was unlockable has been unavailable for more than a year. Your only option to use that phone on TMobile will be to purchase a Gevey SIM, and you'll need to research that option so you know what you're getting into with it. (It also is incompatible with iOS 5, so don't plan to upgrade when that comes out.)

Meanwhile, I believe you can hacktivate using any AT&T SIM. Details on how to do that should be available via a search of this forum section or the iPhone Hacks section; unfortunately, I'm not the right person to give you specifics as I haven't personally had to do it.

Good luck though--at least it was still under warranty!

 

[itsnevo]

Thank you for your information. Unfortunately I'm not sure what firmware is installed on the iPhone 4 yet because obviously I can't get that far until it's activated but I thought I read something about ultrasn0w 1.2.5 thats coming out that's supposed to be able to unlock any iPhone 4 running 4.3.4 and 4.3.5 firmwares. It's nice to know that there are possibly other ways of unlocking it without software.

The best part of this whole experience is I only payed $160 for the damaged phone, so I really really lucked out with having it under warranty!!

 

[Applejuiced]

You read or heard wrong.
There is no new ultrasnow coming out and there's no other way to unlock besides gevey.