The invention enables the use of TCP protocol for reliable transport of data over a wireless network, resolving the problems associated with frequent packet loss. Additional benefits include delivery of significant performance improvement, bandwidth saving and backward compatibility compared to the wire-line TCP protocol, and contribution to power savings in wireless handsets and devices. To make the retransmission process more granular, transport layer segments are subdivided into sub-segments. The invention utilizes a split TCP based approach and produces a series of smaller-sized segments that share the same transport layer header. A NACK-based message exchange, a new header format and a special windowing protocol are used to achieve reliability, flow-control, and efficient buffer handling.