Call it the Netflix effect. As increasing numbers of people stream entertainment from the internet rather than cable, they overtax their internet service provider (ISP).

Thus, in prime time, few providers deliver the bandwidth (speed) they promise. To complicate matters, most ISPs could not anticipate the pandemic. They never assumed that most of the population would be simultaneously online for work, school and pleasure 18 hours a day.

Furthermore, most ISPs over-promise and under-deliver. Always check the asterisk that says: “up to (the advertised speed).”

Thus, the big, bold numbers may claim 1 gig (1 gbps), but the ISP may actually deliver 800-900 mbps.

Before rushing to your attorney, the difference between 1 gbps and 800 mbps is negligible, probably a few seconds during a download of a large file. It means instead of watching six 4K movies simultaneously, you can only view five.

(More astute readers can slice and dice this to fit various combinations; this is merely a rough example. Resolution alone does not specify bandwidth requirements.)

At 8 p.m., your promised 1 gig speed might slow down to 400 mbps. Still, this is enough to watch a 4K movie and hold a Zoom conference simultaneously.

The folks only paying for 100 mbps might feel the slowdown if suddenly their downloads decline to 40 mbps, but even then you should have enough bandwidth to watch a 4K movie and check your Facebook feed on the side.

This simply explains the reason if you start noticing problems when viewing your favorite internet service during prime time.

Many online streaming services automatically step down to a lower resolution to maintain the integrity of the audio and video.

The other issue involves Wi-Fi. The latest iterations of Wi-Fi promise to match or even exceed the fastest internet connections, but again, read the fine print.

If your router sits just 3 feet from your Roku stick, you might achieve close to the advertised speed.

Your fancy new router promises blazing speed, but the phone, laptop, Amazon Fire or Roku stick you use may be two generations behind and much slower.

Wi-Fi speeds decrease rapidly with distance from the transmitter (router) and the number of other clients (thermostat, security cameras, internet radios, Alexa, et al) using the same router.

Also, the construction of your house and the amount of interference generated also slow the Wi-Fi signal.

Wi-Fi is a two-way street, so the receiver has to respond to the transmitter, which causes latency, which is lag in response.

Many different products, such as microwave ovens, operate on the same frequencies as Wi-Fi.

Even if you rock a 1 gig internet connection, rest assured your Wi-Fi may be considerably slower. Simply upgrading your router to the newest Wi-Fi 6 will not speed up your older Wi-Fi products.

The cables with which you interconnect your gear minimally affect performance. That’’s not to say there aren’t junk cables on Amazon and at local stores.

Price fails to correlate with performance or longevity. A $50 HDMI cable is a total waste of money. A Cat7 Ethernet cable won’’t speed up your internet.

Recently, Amazon received negative publicity because of its Amazon Basics USB cables igniting. USB cables now can carry a fairly high wattage along with data, so that is a concern.

Not to defend Amazon, but these meltdowns are pretty rare. For the most part, Amazon Basics cables represent good value and good performance.

If you don’’t trust Amazon, Monoprice is a brand with very modest prices and an outstanding reputation. A 10-foot HDMI cable shouldn’’t cost more than $12. Just be sure to buy the most recent 2.1 HDMI iteration, since HDMI upgrades about once a year.

HDMI cables are backward compatible, meaning the newest version will work with most older equipment. Gold-plated connectors and braided cables, while attractive frills, don’’t assure a higher quality cable. There’’s no guarantee of what lies beneath.

Rich Warren, who lives in the Champaign area, is a longtime reviewer of consumer electronics. Email him at hifiguy@volo.net.