TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is the most commonly used protocol for internet communication due to its features. Internet applications, such as the FTP (File Transfer Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) and e-mail, primarily depend on TCP. Originally designed for a wired network, TCP exhibits degraded performance when used in a wireless network environment due a number of reasons. With the newer advances in the communication networks, it is necessary to discover possible ways to enhance TCP s performance in a wireless network. This paper evaluates and analyses TCP s performance in a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) network. A resource optimization strategy has also been proposed for the same. By focusing on a number of parameters concerned with TCP s performance including the TTI (Transmission Time Interval), RTO (Retransmission Time Out) and transmission power, etc., various simulation models have been designed to optimize the performance in UMTS network. Nevertheless, these parameters are further evaluated, analyzed and optimized to maximize TCP s efficiency in UMTS during a hard handover process.