I reported it to disney support and also got the 'you may have a defective base' response:
"We thank you for the information you provided, it will help us figure out if it was a bad batch of the bases or if it is a more widespread problem. The best thing to do is to return just the base to the store for an exchange, you shouldn't need to return the whole starter set, so don't worry too much about that."
Sounds like Disney is honestly trying to track down the issue but I'm having a really hard time believing the 'bad batch of bases' theory and more inclined to believe that it is a 'more widespread problem'. I think this base is way too finicky and is easily disrupted by wifi and cell phone signals (there are a lot bouncing around in this condo) and doubt exchanging it will solve the problem. Personally I'm going to try to get rid of of some signal noise and place this precious little base in an oasis of calm before I return it to the store as a last resort.