I returned 2 iPads within 2 weeks of getting them on the relase date.
I am a big fan of apple but am absolutely STUNNED by Apple's lack of response here. As the expression goes "their silence is deafening". This must be a major issue similar to the iPhone 4 "antenna-gate" experienced when that product was released. A bad PR blitz would affect sales in a significant way albeit not enough to really impact the Apple empire in a meaningful way long term.
I will say that the goodwill and brand equity hit they are taking from users like me does have the ability to significantly damage the brand down the road.
If this was an issue of LTE not being rolled out in certain areas they would just say ("If LTE is not yet available in your area, please disable LTE until it is available"). If this was a software issue I would THINK it would be resolved by now but I'm not an expert. Some of the packet switching theories in hear seem to be well founded theories but again I'm not an expert.
As a layman---all signs point to a hardware issue that is not easily resolved. With the iPhone 4 issue the resolution was as simple as a $25 bumper cover that mitigated the antenna issue. If this hardware issue was as easy to resolve as that, I would've thought a plan to resolve the issue would be in place by now (6 weeks later).
The fact that we haven't heard means IMHO that it's a major issue. It's occurring across carriers, across countries and across SNs. Something significant is wrong with the New iPads and the facts taken in the aggregate seem to indicate that Apple doesn't have a solution or if they do, they will just implement in current and or future iPads and hoep returns of those sold with the problem are minimal.