"Waiting for Activation" after restore

[dbussert]

I have a 3GS 3.1.2 that I bought used, activated with AT&T service, but then canceled my service and am planning to sell. AT&T activated the phone at the store for me, and I jailbroke it later without issue.

Since I'm selling it, I restored it using iTunes to factory firmware to erase my data, but after booting it continues to say "waiting for activation" when connected via Wifi and tethered to a PC running iTunes. Am I correct to expect the phone to activate since I have a AT&T SIM even though no AT&T service?

[funcritter]

The sim card has to have an real active account on it in order for the iPhone to activate. Once the service has been cancelled, the sim is worthless and will not activate a phone after restoring.

[dbussert]

The sim card has to have an real active account on it in order for the iPhone to activate. Once the service has been cancelled, the sim is worthless and will not activate a phone after restoring.

Thanks. So for whoever buys it, they'll just need to swap in a SIM and it should activate automatically? If the user wants to use it on Tmobile, they'll just need to unlock and hackivate?

[funcritter]

Thanks. So for whoever buys it, they'll just need to swap in a SIM and it should activate automatically? If the user wants to use it on Tmobile, they'll just need to unlock and hackivate?

Yes, that's correct.