Slow to the party...
I have the Motorola that started this thread. I actually got reasonably decent range with it, but I had it sitting on a shelf near the ceiling in the center of my house. Then later I configured an older Netgear router into an AP-only only device, set the same SSID and security but different channel, then wired it to the Motorola and sat it at the back end of the house.
One great option is to stalk Amazon and eBay for older Cisco gear. I have a 2106 WLC that I got 2+ years ago for ~$250. I was running 1131s that were dirt-cheap, and then I gradually picked up some 3502i units when people were selling them for $70. The 3502i is a top-notch 802.11n AP. I paired them up with a 2970G switch (~$120) and set them in H-REAP mode to get around the fact that the 2106 only has 100mbps ports.
When I finally decide I need to move to 802.11ac I'll probably do Ubiquiti's distributed AP solution.
I also use Motorola Surfboard but I'll have to change it. I'll definitely try Netgear R7000! Thanks for recommendation!