[c-nsp] Replacement for 3550-12T being used as a router - IPv6 related

[Lobo]

Hi everyone.

We're looking at some kind of replacement for our 3550-12Ts which are 
currently being used as the "routers" at our edges.  Since these are 
layer 3 switches, there are also some vlans that transit through the 
device but realistically they don't have to.  It's just how I inherited 
this network and how some vlan paths are built.

I recently found out by reading some posts and confirming in our lab 
that the 3550 platform doesn't properly support IPv6 so we are looking 
to replace them with something that can do what the current config does 
along with providing IPv6 support (dual stack).

We've looked at the 3560/3750s but they are limited to only 64 policers 
whereas the 3550s can do up to 128 on the Gig ports.  The total number 
of routes they can hold also seems low on these devices (somewhere 
around 12K or 20K).

I asked Cisco and they recommended the ME3600X but this product looks 
too new and full IPv6 support is not even ready yet (as per their response).

Considering we need some new, cheap router/layer3 switch that can:
- police at least 128 customers
- run OSPFv3
- support a fair amount of routes
- support dual stack IPv6
- need at least 4-6 Gig interfaces

would you have any recommendations?

Thanks.

Jose

P.S.  I've tried recommending a refurb'd 7301 with a dual FE port 
adapter but I do get some raised eyebrows at the cost of ~$8K.