I agree with the coments about enterprise gear… In my organization, we use Cisco 1121g APs. As they are way past end of life, and are very inexpensive, I have used them at home and on other jobs I have done alone the way... They are pretty much bullet proof and when it comes to power and sensitivity, they run circles around the soho gear on the market. Interstingly, I have had several of them apart and have modified them for external antenae which is just another cool way of extending range.
Getting experience with the cisco gear is a great idea because of Cisco's own unique nuance and the marketability of putting "Cisco" on your resume. All of our switches are Cisco 3750 series and we try to maintain a balance between high dollar gear and "getting by" in other areas, but converse to sticking with name-brand gear, we recently abandoned all of our Sonicwall shizzel in favor of pfSense. The transition to pfSense has been one of the best things I've done in a while. Being new to pfSense however, means that I am still learning my way around... Now that I have gotten completely off subject, let me get back on - When the entprise gear is affordable and accessible, it's good to get your feet wet...