by Ken Task.
@David
max_allowed_packet is not PHP. It's a MySQL setting. On Winders, the my.ini file (as a poster in here pointed out). On Linux, my.cnf. If you are remotely hosted, you might have to contact hosting provider and inquire. Not sure they give access to settings for DB server such as that.
It's not really the size of the zip/mbz that's an indicator, it's the data contained therein ... especially those DB records/fields that contain a BIG chunk of data like a wiki.
For a technical explanation, please see:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/packet-too-large.html
'spirit of sharing', Ken