So we--Google and I--are at the point of discussing whether to return or replace the tablet, and I've asked them some questions I doubt they'll answer, but if they do, would involve someone from the development or engineering team to answer, we'll see.
Along the way to this point I've continued to use the tablet and realized that it doesn't feel like I'm getting slow WiFi. So to recap, The day after I got the tablet I walked into the sun room at the back of the house, a place where the wife sits with her tablet all the time, and was going to show the wife something when I noticed that WiFi dropped out entirely. Not only does my wife exclusively use her tablet back there, but we have a Roku on WiFi back there as well, so dropping off WiFi was a sure sign of an issue. So I went back in the house, pulled up WiFi analyzer on the old Samsung and the Pixel C, and compared signals between both. The Pixel C was quite a bit lower. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I might be conflating the issue of signal strength with the speed issue. But when I tested with iPerf, the Pixel C was getting just over half the bandwidth of the Samsung.
Also along the way the Charger stopped charging. Seems there is a fault in the cable. I'm using my Nexus 6P charger to charge it now.
So the point of this is to say that I may keep it in spite of the WiFi issue. Google will reimburse the cost of the charger--I'll get a 6P charger, the cord is thicker and I think the plug fits more solidly. All depends on their answers, but I really like this tablet.
One final thing though. Just noticed that the last upgrade for my router was dated a few years back. I'll have to check the dd-wrt site to see, but if there isn't a more up-to-date firmware, I'll be in the market for a new router as well. It never ends you know.