iPhone 3gs, restore and upgrade, complete non-tech!

Hi, this may have been addressed before, but I cannot find a direct comparision to my problem. Maybe you can help!

I bought a 3gs some time ago, it had been jailbroken, had Cydia on it, but my wife used it on (UK) Vodafone for over a year. No problems, but I made sure never to update the software. Now I have bought her a new iPhone, and this one was redundant, ready for sale. I checked the IMEI number on a website which told me the phone was locked to (UK) TMobile Orange.
So I got an Orange SIM card, and went ahead with the Restore and Update in iTunes. (Can I hear you groan, there?)

What did I do?
I now cannot activate the phone. (Activatation site may be busy, try again later, may take a few minutes, etc etc)

Redsnow, TinyUmbrella, Cydia..... I know nothing, and really I wish to know nothing.... other than 'Can it be fixed', 'How?', and 'by Whom?'

Can anyone suggest an answer?

Did it ever activate? What I found suggested disconnecting and reconnecting (I assume they mean rebooting the phone, maybe) - or just waiting and it would eventually go through.