I have my iPhone Apple push notifications (APNS) working in php on my own machine. I do not block port 2195 outgoing, but it seems HostGator does and is reluctant to open up the port. I'd imagine many web hosts are the same, but I'm wondering if anyone's found one that does not block 2195 and 2196.
I realize I could use a VPS to do this, but I'd like to keep costs down, I'm not sending out a lot of notifications, and I know the very simple php scripts I've got created do work.
I highly suggest http://fivebean.com/account/aff.php?aff=092 Yes, it is an affiliate link but they are the best VPS that I have ever used. Plus they are cheap.
That host officially powers http://twurla.com/ which processes and filters thousands of tweets and urls per minute on their mid-range VPS. Their support is great too, the average response time is 10-15 minutes tops.
I understand you didn't really want a VPS but this host is very easy and shouldn't be too hard to set up at all. OTher than that, I don't know of any shared hosts that open manual ports for you. I use Dreamhost, Bluehost now and I have used many others and I know that most will not let you.
Thanks, James Hartig
I was finally able to do this through BlueHost.com I signed up for the dedicated IP address for and additional $2.50 per month then they were willing to open ports 2195 and 2196 for me.
Jennifer