Hi David,
To answer your question in order to test the strength of the breakout you have to look for the reason for the move and also time of the day the breakout occurs. Say a breakout at German session will usually led to a fake out but has more chances of working out during London session. Also when the breakout occurs on the back of solid data or a major shift in the fundamentals the move will usually be sustained.
The best way I came across to avoid fake out of a range break is to wait for price to test the of the previous range and get in when the price resumes. Say price was trying to breakout on the top side and it pops. Then I wait for the pullback so that the previous resistance will work as support and then take an entry. This will reduce the number of loser but at the same time u will miss out on some winning trades as well.
There is always a trade off.
Hope this helps.
A Successful speculator bases no move on what supposedly will happen but reacts instead to what does happen