Activate jailbreak & unlock instructions?

[Harper]

Hi - I will be taking delivery of a new boxed iPhone 3GS 16GB later this week from my employer. However, we are in the UK and do not use O2 as our network provider. So I intend to jailbreak (using redsn0w) then unlock (using ultrasn0w). Do I need to activate the phone before jailbreaking (and will this need an O2 sim to do it)? Or will I be able to check firmware, baseband etc without inserting a sim and go straight ahead? I think I’ve got my head round most of what I need to do, but it’s my first time doing this kind of thing and I want to make sure I do all the right bits in the right order – is there a good tutorial or detailed set of instructions somewhere? Also, I have seen ads for a small piece of hardware that sticks to the sim to unlock – is this better than doing all of the above? Thanks, Harper.

[babyblue_pimp]

first and formost, do NOT get a "turbosim", they are those hardware unlockers, they SUCK, super unreliable, forced me to carry two phones around, because i could never rely on my iphone.

Check out the website iClarified - Apple News and Tutorials, they have some great tutorials, on getting your phone unlocked, step by step, with photos.

when you get your 3gs, be sure to have a copy of the 3gs .ipsw file. Plug in your new phone, open up redsnow, point it towards the 3.0 .ipsw file you downloaded (do not use safari), follow the easy steps from redsnow, after about 10-15 mins, you phone is now jailbroken, you will be able to use your phone as an ipod now. Then download ultrasnow from cydia, install, reset network settings, reboot, enjoy!

I know my description sucks, but its just a little reference you could use, follow an article on iclarified, if you run into any issues, there are plenty of us on here that will help.

Just a little advice, don't get agitated with the process. Thats when alot of people make the biggest mistakes. Just take your time, don't rush it, if it looks like its not doing anything, its probably doing something, and you shouldn't touch it. Just know nothing should take more than 30 minutes, if you've been waiting at a screen for over 30 minutes, something went wrong, post on here for more advice.

[Harper]

Many thanks for your assistance. Iclarified seems to be a very useful resource. Cheers. H.