This is most likely mysqlnd issue since PHP 5.3 binaries for win32 use mysqlnd.

Duplicate of http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=47017 . Feature request.

Description:
------------
It seems like mysqli do not understand compression protocol. When you
are using flag MYSQLI_CLIENT_COMPRESS in mysqli_real_connect - it
connects, but can't properly handle server (compressed?) answer.

MySQL server 5.0.67-community-nt-log with compression enabled:

mysql> show variables like '%have_comp%';
+---------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+-------+
| have_compress | YES   |
+---------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

I can connect to MySQL server using command line client with flag '-C'
(use compression):

C:\Documents and Settings\U>mysql -C
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 14
Server version: 5.0.67-community-nt-log MySQL Community Edition (GPL)

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> show status like '%compr%';
+---------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+-------+
| Compression   | ON    |
+---------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql>

I think that something is wrong with mysqli and flag
MYSQLI_CLIENT_COMPRESS

Reproduce code:
---------------
$mysqli = mysqli_init();
if (!$mysqli) {
    die('mysqli_init failed');
}

if (!$mysqli->real_connect('localhost', '', '', NULL, NULL, NULL,
MYSQLI_CLIENT_COMPRESS)) {
    die('Connect Error (' . mysqli_connect_errno() . ') '
            . mysqli_connect_error());
}
$mysqli->query("show status like '%compre%'");
$mysqli->close();

Expected result:
----------------
Normal query execution without any errors.

Actual result:
--------------
PHP
Some times it crushes. Sometimes it do not.
Error log:

PHP Warning:  mysqli::query(): MySQL server has gone away in
C:\Documents and Settings\U\Desktop\compress_test.php on line 42
PHP Warning:  mysqli::query(): Error reading result set's header in
C:\Documents and Settings\U\Desktop\compress_test.php on line 42

MySQL
Error log:

090818 17:36:04 [Warning] Aborted connection 8 to db: 'unconnected'
user: 'U' host: 'localhost' (Got a packet bigger than
'max_allowed_packet' bytes)

sometimes:

090818 17:31:13 [Warning] Aborted connection 61 to db: 'unconnected'
user: 'U' host: 'localhost' (Got an error reading communication
packets)

===============

Correct documentation, please, if it is a feature request.