hello

I have a 3GS probably 3.0.0 or 3.0.1 sitting in the box. I paid 700 bones for it to avoid the att contract. I'm on tmobile on my 2G iphone.

I hear the best way to activate is to use a prepaid sim card and then you can get push. I'm looking for a step by step guide on how to do this.

If i buy the prepaid card off ebay, are there any risks that the pushes I receive will also go to another phone? (I heard there was a problem with that if you use someone else's sim to activate)

is there anything in the activation process that will mess up my baseband?

When I then unlock the phone and put in my tmobile sim, will push still work?

If I were you i would jailbreak and activate first, by making the appropiate image with pwnage, and from Cydia run Ultrasn0w to unlock it.

I have not heard of your method using sims and psuhes, but if you could find this info you will certainly be able to find instructions for the more popular method I describe above.
If you want a step by step guide try iclarified.com for their tutorials.

Good luck!

FYI: All the Prepaid AT&T SIM will just Activate simple as plug in and activate just quick and painless within 30 sec.
Push will not bind and attach to that iPhone. Because once you JB & Unlock, your Tmobile phone number will take over. At least for the few iPhone I Activated, JB & Unlocked.
Baseband will not be messed up as long as you don't update & restore to firmware v3.1 or higher. Even if your 3Gs messed up and stuck in Apple Logo bootup loop, just restore & update with CUSTOM firmware v3.1 or v3.1.2 (Not Official Apple firmware)

Hope this post help. That's all I know and it works just fine.

Keep in mind -- he'll only be able to install a custom 3.1 firmware if he's got an SHSH on file with Saurik's server or has a copy locally (Umbrella / TinyTSS) -- since Apple is no longer signing the 3.1 updates.

That said, 3.1.2 will still work, you can use Pwnage 3.1.4 to create the custom firmware without the baseband, flash using that, then get the carrier package for your carrier to bring back your logo.

If your SHSH isn't on file, make sure it's the first thing you do after you jailbreak!

if the iphone is *factory* unlocked, you can activate it with *any* sim card, push will work independent of sim cards, even without sim card and wifi only. both my factory unlocked iphone3G and 3GS work this way when i use them abroad with local prepaid sim cards.

not sure why people suggest not to update baseband since it is an unlocked phone, hence no software unlock is required.

__________________
iphone 2G 1.1.2 OTB & pwned (ex TurboSIM, now 3.1.2) & O2-de
iphone 3GS 32GB black, factory unlocked from Italy & O2-de

Probably because I totally glazed over where he mentioned it was factory unlocked! That said, he'll still want the SHSH on file if he's going to jailbreak to ensure he can restore out-of-band firmwares on the device. Secondarily, this line makes it seem like he's going to be unlocking it himself:

"When I then unlock the phone and put in my tmobile sim, will push still work?"

That would lead me to believe this wasn't a factory unlocked phone...

can you explain more of this?

Yes, It is a LOCKED OTB phone bought in USA at apple store, where I walked in, paid 700 bones, and walked out, no ATT contract, no lowering of my credit score.

I use T-Mobile. My current phone is 2G on 2.1.1 (I think)

I'm out of the loop on the upgrading and JB UL scene and need to get this new 3gs working.

I will not be using 3G on tmobile, obviously.

I was holding out because I heard that there are problems / impossible to get PUSH if you hacktivate.

I heard you can get PUSH if you use a prepaid ATT sim to activate.

I heard that you can activate using your friends SIM card and then pop in your own... however when this happens, sometimes the other person's PUSH messages go to you, OR yours go to him (I'm not sure which and don't know the details - just heard reports of messages going where they are not supposed to go). With this information - I based my idea that if I activated with a prepaid and then popped in t-mobile sim after unlocking, that I might still get PUSH messages.

no?