I first started using WiFi in my house about 2003. I've used an old Belkin 802.1b access point (which was okay for its time, but you couldn't upgrade the security on it), an SMC Barracuda (the extra RJ-45 ports were nice for my home "servers") and, most recently, an Apple Airport Express. It's funny, but I've sort of taken the Airport Express for granted.
You know how it is-- if it works, you tend not to think about it very often.
For some reason, I was outside with my Asus eee PC the other day and figured I'd check the status of the various WiFi access points around me. Much to my surprise, my SSID was showing up loud and clear as far as six houses down! I could literally put a wireless camera on the community mailbox (not that I would, but just to demonstrate the distance) and get an image transmitted back.
Considering the Belkin unit couldn't even get a reliable signal into my own backyard, I'd say things have improved quite a bit.
I mention all this because, believe it or not, I'm actually thinking about replacing my Airport Express with a Linksys router. It's all DD-WRT's fault. ;) Airport Express is very well designed, but it doesn't support the higher-end security features that a Linksys router with DD-WRT does-- such as Virtual Private Networking. (I was wondering how some of the folks I knew were using personal VPN connections at public WiFi spots.) Of course, the downside is that if I get rid of the Airport Express, I lose the USB printer and streaming of iTunes songs to my stereo system (er, which I never use anyway?)