Get past Firewalls for XML socket application

Hi,

I have been researching this for weeks - and now we need to implement a solution. We have an online multiplayer game that uses XMLsocket over port 8XXX. However, our users are complaining they cannot always access the game. This is due to this port (and any port above 1024) being blocked by some firewalls.

I have seen lots of online games that seem to have resolved this. They use some other method to route packets. Maybe port 80 and wrapped in HTTP? Sounds too slow being a request/response protocol.

I heard of SOAP implementations…but not being an expert in this area, not sure what the draw-backs are or where to even big.

Any guidance appreciated.

Thanks
Skimo