Iptables and Blocking by Region

I'm tired of seeing certain network ranges always peppering my linux server, so I'm going to experiment with blocking via region.  I've seen several hints/tips but I want to do this with the server not taking too much of a hit.  Note that I'm mainly concerned with traffic that I typically allow, such as port 80.  I could block via apache, which may well work, but I also want to investigate using iptables.

So far, I've found:

1. http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/iptables-read-and-block-ips-subnets-from-text-file/
2. http://www.parkansky.com/china.htm
3. http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1146401 (and http://www.jsimmons.co.uk/2010/06/08/using-ipset-with-iptables-in-ubuntu-lts-1004-to-block-large-ip-ranges/)
4. I could possibly use tcpwrappers as well, but I'm not sure tcpwrappers can handle the amount of ranges I want to block.

Solution #1 seems a bit too hackish.  As well, the server may take a performance hit if I decide to drop more than one region (China's netranges are broad enough as it is).

Solution #2 might not be so bad, as it leverages the htaccess function.  I've no idea how performance-intensive this method is, but it may be worth looking into.  A con is that I also run a mail server...this method won't work for mail.

Solution #3 looks good.  This method uses iptables and ipset.  Ipset lessens the performance hit when blocking thousands of IPs.

So, before hitting the bed, I decided to give solution #3 a shot.  I immediately found that the tutorial is out-of-date (it caters to Ubuntu 10.04...I'm using 12.04).  I'm attempting to work through it by leveraging the manual pages and 'ipset info', but I'm running into kernel errors such as:

root@li7-220:~# ipset create feckoff hash:ip
ipset v6.11: Kernel error received: Invalid argument

I do not have full control over my host (it is running on a linode, and the modules are locked down).  I may not be able to use this, but I'll continue to investigate.

EDIT:  Well, I'll be damned!  I got the command to take.  I had to select a more current kernel to boot up (I was using a depreciated Linode kernel).  I guess I should check that more often.  I'll continue this exercise tomorrow...I just have to ensure I've bookmarked all my reference sites.