Since you’ve waited about three weeks for the PlayStation Network to return, you may want to hang out for another few hours as Sony announced some service functions are returning to U.S. users in the next several hours. Patrick Seybold, a representative for Sony Computer Entertainment America, indicated on the PlayStation Blog that the process to restore PSN service has already begun and some states are being turned on now.
There is a handy map on the PS Blog that indicates which states are juiced up, so you can check throughout the night to see when your service is restored. “We’ll be updating the map below as service comes online in individual states,” Seybold wrote. “It will take several hours to restore PSN throughout the entire country, so please keep checking back for the latest updates.”
The firmware update is now live and is available to download and install. You will need this update, along with a change of your password, to get back onto the PSN.