Here are several different ways to test a TCP port without telnet.
BASH (man page)
$ cat < /dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/22
SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_5.3
^C
$ cat < /dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/23
Here are several different ways to test a TCP port without telnet.
$ cat < /dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/22
SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_5.3
^C
$ cat < /dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/23