Answer
A realistic test means walking the actual facility with a device, not reviewing a spec sheet, and deliberately checking coverage in the areas that give warehouses the most trouble: near metal racking, in refrigerated or freezer zones, close to dock doors where doors and truck bodies interfere with signal, and in any mezzanine or back-corner storage area. Ask the vendor how their software behaves the moment a device drops connectivity mid-scan, whether the transaction queues locally and retries automatically, and whether the user gets clear feedback that something is pending rather than assuming the scan went through.
Buyers should also ask what happens when two queued transactions conflict on reconnect, such as two people adjusting the same bin's count while offline, since that reconciliation logic is where cheaper platforms tend to cut corners. It is worth requesting a reference call specifically about coverage gaps, not general satisfaction, because a vendor's strongest customers rarely have the same physical layout problems your facility does. Resilience testing before purchase is far cheaper than discovering the gap during a live inventory count.