townhouseguy

I have DS-2CD2532-IS connected up to a DS-7604NI which provides POE. How can I edit the camera settings, e.g. turn off the IR ring? I can't do it from within the NVR. Is it as simple as connecting up my machine to the NVR network port? Does it act like a switch like that? Or would I need to buy a POE switch specifically and then connect the camera up to it and connect that way? Really need to turn off the IR because it's ruining my night shots now that it's raining alot of the time.

So I'm new to CCTV but I have spent the last week or so investigating everything. I have settled on a Hikvision 3MP IP setup because I want the best quality possible and it's also relatively affordable and seems easy to put together. Also my background is network/IT so I've got the network/poe knowledge all covered. My main problem at the moment is deciding camera locations and therefore which camera format to buy for the particular location. I want to make sure that the footage I get is usable so I don't really want cameras all the way up under the roof where they can capture the tops of peoples heads. This is the front of my house: Another angle : Doorway entrance : So the fitting/installation/configuration is no problem, but I'm lost and need your expertise on deciding camera locations to get the most out of my CCTV install. Also I wanted to know why everyone mounts them so high? Are these really targets of vandalism? Do people have no problems walking up to cameras and breaking/spraying them or should I not worry about that and put them lower anyway, and if anyone does vandalise them at least I'll have a hd image of them doing it?