we have been using imagestream routers with great success on our network and they are much less expensive than cisco routers. they run a special build of linux.
tech support is awesome. we too are very rural and for now i had to get 8 t-1s bonded with MLPPP. Good ole Qwest had a problem with fragmentation when they delivered the circuit and imagestream tech support stayed on a 3 way call with me and Qwest for 1.5 hours till Qwest finally figured out that the imagestream tech was right and we needed to disable fragmentation on both ends.
they also have a nice menu system that makes configuration really easy even for those not familiar with linux, and i think they have a web based config that will be out soon. they’ve gotten good reviews as well.
hope that helps!