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I've got a belkin DSL modem/router F5D7630uk4A .
Its works fine with Linux. That said, my Linux box is connected via a Cat5 and is not wireless.
Your router should not need to be Linux compatible, just your NIC. The one I have uses a local IP address and is configured via a browser window i.e. it is not OS specific. The router connects via an ethernet port so does not require drivers etc.
I don't use the firewall portion, I use the firewall on my machine. This is a better way (I think) becuase you can then upgrade and use the latest protection etc, whereas upgrades on a hardware firewall may be limited. That said, according to the IT guy at work (this is second hand so don't shoot me down if it is wrong!) that because the client gets its address through DHCP, there will be minimal problems with having your computer hacked., but run a software firewall to be safe. You may want to investigate this further to confirm how accurate it is.
When you have your NIC cards up and running, they should be able to 'sniff out' other wireless lans that are running. You can then set the channel on your router manually to a different number to minimise the level of crosstalk. Becuase each wireless net will have its own name, a client would need to be a member of that wireless group to have permissions to use the radio channel for that router. This means you could use the same frequency channel but you and another wireless net would expereince performance degradation because of crosstalk, so checking the freqency channel of other wireless nets and changing your to soemthing different would defintiely help to mitigate this. (In the UK there are 13 frequency channels available for 802.11 networks, so you would have to be quite unlucky to suffer from cross-talk becuase of this.)
Also, make sure that you use the encryption that is available for the router and the NIC cards. This prevents unauthorised users accessing your network. It is available at various levels of security, so you should use the common level available to all of your devices. It is hackable, but the hacker would have to be quite determined. Additional secirity that you would normally put to access a network is advised to provide another layer of security.
As for a,b,g. These are radio standards. Use g as it also includes b. a is mainly used in the US and works at 5GHz (b and g work at 2.4GHz). Becuase 802.11a works at 5GHz the signals will not travel as far (free space loss is proportional to f^-2, where f = frequency) This means a may give you issues in a 2 floor apartment as you will experience signal attenuation due to walls, floors etc.
I have a computer upstairs (my router is downstairs). I find that I have to force my upstairs computer to work on the lowest TX rate (1MBPS) to prevent drop-outs.
Your main problem may be finding a linux compatible NIC wireless card. I suggest doing an HCL check beforehand and seeing which models have the most user support in terms of drivers. If somebody knows a manufacturer that supplies linux drivers then great. Otherwise, you will be relying on community driver, so do your homework before parting with your cash!!
Don't abandon the idea of going wireless! I admit that I use it with windows, but as long as you can get a NIC that is compatible it really makes life a lot easier. You can have your computer where the electrical socket is, not the network cable. Certainly easier when your wife likes to re-arrange rooms every couple of months!!
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