[Discuss] Looking for a tool to selective block domains AND/OR IP address ranges

[Yuuri]

Hi again,

Using LINUX MINT 18 with XFCE and looking for hints on another issue:

I have been using the "hosts" file to effectively neutralise many 
purveyors of ads and seekers of analytical data, but there are two 
limitations to this, since the "hosts" file works like a name server: 
only unique (complete) host names can be handled, that is, the file 
cannot be used to block entries containing wildcards or to block IP 
addresses. (It seems that webpages increasingly contain scripts that 
connect to servers directly via IP addresses, perhaps in response to the 
known technique of using "hosts" to block calls.)

I thought a firewall should be able to do what needs to be done and 
installed IPTABLES. No idea how this works, however, since there are no 
fields to enter host names or IP addresses, and I don't care about ports 
- if I want to block my computer from connecting to a given host, this 
block should apply to any and all ports.

What I am looking for is a firewall-like tool with an interface where I 
can enter domains with wildcards and IP address ranges, and where this 
tool would then re-route any requests from my computer to connect to a 
server in that list to localhost (for example).

Would appreciate related suggestions - many thanks in advance!

Yuuri