Called AppleCare for help with 3G activation

I have just finished calling Apple Support (talked to Jason) about the problem of being unable to activate the 3G connection on my iPad.

I was told two things (one of which really surprised me!):

1. The credit card billing address entered into the ipad has to be exactly what is on my statement (pretty sure it is);
2. The iPad requires Wifi connectivity and ports must be open to activate 3G.
   

Re. 1: Is there a reason the iPad does not pop-up a dialog box and inform me of this requirement when I have been trying to activate 3G without a Wifi conneciton for the past 3 weeks?!

Re. 2: The Wifi network I am on at work is behind a NAT, so it's likely my failure to authenticate is due to this.