ground plane

In this proximity coupled antenna, is it necessary to solder a ground connection directly beneath the antenna? Or can the ground plane be connected to ground point elsewhere on the ground plane, far away from the antenna? Assume the patch substrate and ground plane are several wavelengths...

Hi all, For a product which will communicate over NB-IoT at around 800MHz we are currently busy with the design of the PCB. For best performance we would like to have a ground plane of at least 1/4 of the length wave which corresponds to roughly 90mm. Our PCB is due to mechanical constraints...