iPhone 4s - Activation Server Temporarily Unavailable...?

Any advice on this "activation server temporarily unavailable" error I'm getting (again, phone is not jailbroken)?? I've tried for two days now and it keeps sending this message. Is my phone toast?

Thanks Lawrence... But it seems my hosts file is clean already. This mac be hack-free. And phone is not under warranty anymore but so lightly used. It worked fine (besides the battery drain issue (which started right after my update to OS6)). Restored to hopefully fix the battery issue and now the activation server is temperarily unavailable every attempt I make. The exact error message reads:

"Your iPhone could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable. Try connecting your iPhone to iTunes to activate it, or try again in a couple of minutes.

If this problem persists, contact Apple Support at apple.com/support"

And when connecting to itunes I get this simple message:

"Your request couldn’t be processed.

We’re sorry, but there was an error processing your request. Please try again later."

Frustrating!!!

iTunes won't let me do anything with the phone at this point. I've tried restoring it many times and keep getting stuck at this point. I'm able to repeat the restore by switching the phone off, hold down the home button, then plug in the usb connector which powers up the phone and starts the restore process. I've downloaded the update a few times to check but it has not made a difference. Cleaned the SIM but that didn't help.

I live a long way from an Apple store. If anyone out there can help walk me through a fix, I'd be super grateful. I sure hope this phone isn't garbage, that would be a shame.

I don't run an antivirus program. The built-in firewall is on but I would certainly assume that my defalt settings should allow iTunes to communitcate- how else could I have restored the phone. Besides- I've tried from the computer and from the phone directly. I've even tried from the phone over cellular connection (which should bypass any router settings, right?). Same error either way.

I don't have another computer to tie into so that is not an option right now..

Calling AT&T to see if they can dig me out of this hole.... To be continued...

On a related side note- Since the restore, my battery is still 3/4 full after 3 days of no charging. Wow, if we could combine that battery life with a working phone, we'd have a winner. Too bad it's either one or the other...

AT&T said this is an Apple issue.... Apple Care closed today. But I'm guessing Apple will blame it on AT&T...

If anyone out there has a solution for me to try, I'm all ears....

One last thing that shouldn't have any connection but since I'm stumped here...

We just got done registering a new ipod touch before I went to restore the phone... The touch was connected to my apple id. Could that be the reason my phone isn't activating. Wouldn't make sense to me for apple to limit what products we can buy but the timing seems a bit suspicious... Anyone?

Off the phone with Apple.. They ran me through the restore process a few times with the same result... This phone is garbage. It now has to get sent back to apple. Who will send me someone else's garbage phone that they "fixed." And someone else will get my garbage phone down the line. This is a real bummer. 4 Days down plus another 7-10 days before everything is back to "normal." Not happy about this. But hopefully it will help reduce some frustration for someone else in the future. If you see the activation server temporarily unavailable warning after a few tries, just give up, your phone is trashed...

Happy 2013- off to a great start...

😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠

iPhone replacement arrived today and we're back up and running. Good job Apple- that was a fast turnaround. Let's hope we don't run into any battery issues with this one.

Thanks for all your help!