It is a real problem. While traveling last summer and working remotely I experienced it first hand.

Is there was a really easy way of mimicking all the effects of this type of latency so I could periodically test the stuff I set up?

Also, if it is just HTTPS, then it is possible to proxy through something that downgrades the protocol, but it feels dirty.

Your browser's developer tools can simulate latency and constrained bandwidth, at least in Firefox and Chrome. Firefox instructions: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Responsive_De...

At a system level, Clumsy (https://jagt.github.io/clumsy/), Comcast (https://github.com/tylertreat/comcast), and Network Link Conditioner (https://nshipster.com/network-link-conditioner/) are relatively user-friendly and work at a lower level. Okay, Comcast isn't as user friendly, but it has a really cheeky name. Also, the GIF on Clumsy's homepage is brilliantly well-done.

Apparently Charles (https://www.charlesproxy.com/) and Fiddler (https://www.telerik.com/fiddler) can also simulate bad connections, if you're already using one of those tools.

> Also, if it is just HTTPS, then it is possible to proxy through something that downgrades the protocol, but it feels dirty.

Not necessarily. Consider HSTS, HPKP, Expect-CT, etc.