Notice:
I'm one of the early posters, whose flagging of the iPad wifi issue was quoted in a few online stories.
I returned my iPad 3 on Monday, after bringing it to the store and testing it with 2 other new 3's, alongside my iPad 2. Reception was half for the 3's.
I took a chance and went to the Grove today in LA, just taking a chance that maybe the batch had changed, or simply that I might get a functioning one. I was dubious.
Lo and behold, the iPad 3 I bought is as fast as my 2. I'm in my bedroom, two rooms way from the router and it's working properly.
I didn't do anything to the router, didn't change any settings. This one is just connecting properly.
The one thing I did, as a suggestion from the apple care person online, is that I turned the wifi off on the iPad 2. She had indicated that it might grab signal. I did notice a difference when I shut the 2 off
Anyway, I'm hitting about 20 to 22 Mbps.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
As a former protester, I can for the moment attest that there are functioning 3's out there, and doesn't necessarily require a month's wait.
Stay tuned.....