I’m setting up my new iPhone 8 Plus and the server won’t be reached

What happened when you followed the displayed instructions and used iTunes to activate it?

Here are Apple's instructions for activation-->If you can't activate your iPhone - Apple Support

Here are my notes on this issue:

• It really is unavailable. Rare, but it happens. You can check its status here: https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/
• Your version of iTunes is out of date if you are activating with your computer
• The phone does not have a valid SIM installed.
• Your antivirus or firewall is blocking access to gs.apple.com. Try temporarily disabling it.
• Your router's firewall is blocking access to gs.apple.com or to a port that it requires (443).
• Your phone is jailbroken, or it was at some time in the past.
• Your computer was used to hack or jailbreak some iOS device in the past (not necessarily the device with the current problem), and its network database was corrupted. Hacking includes using some questionable apps such as recboot, reiboot, Tinyumbrella, redsn0w, etc. If this is a possibility inspect your computer's hosts file. If there are any lines in the file that reference gs.apple.com that is the explanation. You will need to rebuild the hosts file.
• Your phone has a hardware problem. Take it to an Apple store for diagnosis.