+1 This all day long.
I use an ERL, and wouldn't go back to my Asus AC-66U as my gateway/firewall. The 66U is my temp AP, and it works OK for that. Don't get me wrong, it was a good home-grade router...but an ERL will blow it out of the water no matter what WRT flavor you install. I've played with the stock AsusWRT, Merlin AsusWRT and DD-WRT. Merlin wins on the Asus, but still can't handle what the ERL can for traffic, especially with QoS.
UniFi AP's are solid too...I miss mine, but sold it to a friend that needed that awesome range more than I did at the time. I'm now ordering one of the new AC-Lite AP's to test it out.
For $150, you could also go with a Ubiquity AirRouter, which has a WRT firmware and interface, still has some decent options and in my test is amazing for the budget price offering a lot of what these more expensive home-grade routers offer. Or if you want something like the ERL but with a tighter budget the EdgeRouter X is a good place to look as well.. that and an Uni-Fi AP would be right at your price point and offer huge value for your dollar. Plus with the setup wizards in the UI, you can be off and running with a very good firewall in no time. The AP's are managed by browser-accessed software that does an excellent job...the AP's are good for set it and forget it applications. One wire runs to them (they run POE so power and data over Ethernet)...makes installation much easier too.
The caveat? They take more effort to setup than a simple home-grade router...but the effort is beyond well worth it in the end. Backup your configs, and set them up how you want, and then you're set.