++1
Seriously. I've used Mikrotik (hostile latvians [check], and buggy firmware [super check] - really the rant list is too long to enumerate here!) and am moving lots of stuff to UBNT.
The edge-router line is frankly totally incredible.
And speaking of VPN - they have an OpenVPN that actually supports the full spec, rather than the totally neutered one 'Tik does.
Real IPSec firewall interfaces! [L2TP where IPSec can get bypassed? Another 'Tik exclusive!]
(Do I sound kind of bitter about 'Tik? :) Yeah, I've got quite a number of people on 'Tik stuff, but given their hostility [it's legendary] and crap firmware [firmware russian roulette anyone!?] and a host of other issues - I'll be glad to have all my clients off onto Ubiquiti's stuff. )
Learning curve is steep, but no more than equivalent products - for example 'Tik, Cisco etc. It's a Vyatta based platform. UBNT's forum is incredible, as are UBNT staff themselves.
Virtually any UBNT product I'd not hesitate to buy. It's *incredible* value.
---
As for a router on a PC or some other idea...
It's way less power than a franken-PC.
Solid-state disks. [less mechanical failure possibilities]
Massive packet throughput. [1M pps for the $100 ER Lite, 2Mpps for the 8 port versions!] Based on Debian. Rocks.
Damn cheap!
Quiet!
And best of all. Really pretty easy, quick.
Basic stuff won't require a lot of work/time. If you want more, pretty much the sky's the limit. But more fancy stuff will take more time.
But basic functionality - probably a couple of hours start to finish.
Good luck!
-Greg