Firstly, is your broadband cable or through the telephone line? Until recently Virgin only provided cable broadband but now do ADSL too.
I have cable broadband and use a Linksys WRT54G - excellent range (all over house and to shed at bottom of the garden), good security and set up.
Others recommend Netgear, but really the choice is yours. Just make sure you buy the right one.
My router is 4 years old, but if I were buying one today I would make sure it had a printer server. This allows the printer to be plugged in to the router, so it can be accessed wirelessly from the laptops.