I just wanted to update on my situation if it helps anyone. I have waited for 3 days to post and will now say that 5.3.3.9 has fixed my issue. I have had 99% of the push notifications come through with the .gif.
I'm using IOS 14.0.1 and open vpn for off site connection with no ports forwarded...
I just wanted to reaffirm that there should really be no reason to jump through all of these hoops... I have changed absolutely nothing on my network. Previous version 5.2.6.5: the push notifications all work perfectly... versions after that: the push images became erratic. Reinstall the old...