Thanks for the reset suggestion, especially the 'you may need to try it a few times' - it's finally working now.
I'm not sure if it prompted an update somehow when it finally connected CDMA, but after 2nd Voice side reset and the other lights reverted to green, CDMA finally lit up as well, for maybe all of 30 seconds at most. Then suddenly, the entire Data side plus 3/4 Voice lights went flashing red (GPS stayed solid green), and after another few minutes, everything on both sides finally flipped back solid green and has stayed that way ever since. Had to reboot mine and my wife's G5's before I could get a call to go through the AR3 vs the nearest macro 1x800, but finally hit the familiar 3-tone intro trying to call my wife's cell.